The Japan Association for Language Teaching On JALT2000 · On JALT2000—Towards the New Millenium 1 On JALT2000— 新千年紀にむかって The Japan Association for Language

1On JALT2000—Towards the New Millenium On JALT2000—新千年紀にむかって

The Japan Association for Language Teaching

The Proceedings of the JALT26th Annual International Conference

on Language Teaching & Learningand Educational Materials Expo

On JALT2000

ISBN: 4-9900370-7-3


JALT President: Thomas L. SimmonsPublications Board Chair: Gene van Troyer

Copyright

Copyright © 2001 by the Japan Association for Language TeachingAll rights reserved. Produced in Japan. No part of this publication may be used orreproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission of JALT, except in cases ofbrief quotations embodied in scholarly articles and reviews.

For information:Address: Conference Proceedings, JALT Central Office, Urban Edge Bldg., 5th Floor,1-37-9 , Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110, Japan <[email protected]>

Cataloging Data

Long, van Troyer, Lane, Swanson, (eds.)On JALT2000: Toward the New Millenium

Bibliography: p.1. Second Language Teaching—Second Language Learning—Teacher EducationI. TitleNovember, 2001ISBN: 4-9900370-7-3 (JALT2000 Conference Proceedings)

Copyright& Cataloging Data

JALT Conference Proceedings

An annual volume produced by theConference Publications Committee

of theJapan Association

for Language Teaching


On JALT2000Towards the New Millenium

新千年紀に向かって

JALT Conference Proceedings:An annual volume produced by the

Conference Publications Committee of theJapan Association for Language Teaching

EDITORSRobert Long

Gene van TroyerKeith Lane

Malcolm Swanson

COVER LOGOAndrew Robbins

DESIGN, LAYOUT, and CD FORMATTINGMalcolm Swanson

PUBLISHED BY

The Japan Association for Language TeachingNovember 2001

Tokyo, Japan


Emika AbeDaito Bunka University

Tim AshwellKomazawa University Junior College

Andrew BarfieldUniversity of Tsukuba

Paul A. BeaufaitThe Prefectural University of Kumamoto

A.R. CampbellTokyo University of Technology

Wade CarltonShimane University

Christopher CarmenSangyo Ika Daigaku

Larry CisarKanto Gakuen University

Marie ClapsaddleHokuriku Gakuin Junior College

Joseph DiasKitasato University

Anthony CominosKobe Gakuin Women's College

Brian CullenSaniku Gakuin College

Stephanie DawleyJumonji Women’s College

Joseph DiasPrefectural University of Kumamoto

Duane P. FlowersNagaoka University of Technology

Sandra FotosSenshu University

Hiroko HaginoUniversity Franche-Comte

Amy E. HawleyNagoya University of Arts

Lawrie HunterESL Consultant, Brazil

Chiaki IwaiDoshisha University

Keiko KikuchiSenshu University

Editorial Advisory Board for JALT2000 Conference Proceedings

Adam KomisarofLewis and Clark College

Allen KoshewaTsuda College

Aleda KrauseKanto Gakuen University

Elizabeth LangeSakuragaoka Girls’ JHS/SHS

Laura MacGregorShobi University

Luiza R. MaiaShizuoka Futaba Gakuen

Steve McGuireTokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

Shingo MoritoHyugagakuin Junior/Senior High School

Robin NaganoRikkyo University

Carolyn ObaraSangyo Ika Daigaku

Jonathan PickenKochi University of Technology

Yong PingTokyo Metropolitan College

Brett ReynoldsSuper Kid’s English Club

Steve RyanKyoto Institute of Technology

Thom SimmonsEichi (Sapientia) University

Alice SvendsonJumonji Women's College

Lillian SwainHyugagakuin Junior Senior High School

Peter WannerKyoto Institute of Technology

Christopher WeaverTokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

Howard WhiteDaito Bunka University


PREFACE

Towards The New Millennium

JALT conferences are always special occasions. They are opportunities to share our research andexperience in the teaching and learning of languages, our professional insights, and make plans withcolleagues and acquaintances. JALT 2000 in Shizuoka City was particularly special because—in

addition to hosting over 1600 attendees and 450 quality presentations—it functioned as a transitionbetween a deservedly proud past and a hopefully bright future.

Each JALT Conference Proceedings, therefore, is important as permanent record of what transpired, ofwhat we have learned as professionals, how we are responding to new trends and challenges, and wherewe should be heading in the future. Indeed, as we enter the new millennium, it is apparent that changewill be more frequent, pronounced, and accelerated, thus it is all the more imperative that we remaininformed. We are especially glad to be bringing you this Conference Proceedings, marking as it does theend of the past millennium and the beginning of the next.

The JALT2000 Proceedings is one means of learning what is new in language education and, once again,reflects JALT’s diverse backgrounds and interests. The 41 articles that we, the Editors, and our PeerAdvisory Board have chosen, are divided into six areas: Change and the Future, Children and LanguageEducation, Curriculum Concerns, Interactions, Across Cultures, and The Practical Teacher. And, we cansay, based on the number of submissions that we have received, that interest in JALT and languageeducation is continuing to grow.

Of particular interest are articles by Torikae Kumiko and In Lee, whose thoughts on English languageeducation in their respective countries, Japan and Korea, serve to introduce this edition of theProceedings. Each looks at the current state of affairs in their countries, considers the demands placed ontheir education systems by their ministries of education, and roughly sketches what looks to be achallenging road to travel in the years to come. Their insights bear striking congruence and speak directlyto the challenges that teachers will be facing not just in Japan, but in other areas of Asia, as other Asiannations seek to emulate Japan and Korea in their approaches to language education, and the changes incurriculum that will be entailed. Their thoughts warrant careful consideration on the part of languageeducators, especially those brought in from overseas to help fulfill the changes due to be implemented.For Japan, Korea, and other Asian nations, the new millennium brings us a grand experiment incurriculum reform whose results are far predictable.

We are proud to present the latest and representative sample of workshops, demonstrations, essays, andresearch findings to you. Not only do we hope that they help to inform you about your own profession,we hope they inspire you as well.

Robert LongKeith LaneMalcolm SwansonGene van Troyer


Section One: Change and the FutureEnglish Language Education in Japan: Issues and Insights Towards the New Millennium ........................ 9

Kumiko TorikaiChallenges for the New Millennium in Korea: English Education ............................................................ 14

In LeeThe Sociolinguistic Situation in Hong Kong: A Case Study ..................................................................... 23

Qin JiangThree Problems Confronting Japanese Higher Education.......................................................................... 30

Michael H. Fox, Brian J. McVeigh, Shiozawa Tadashi, Steve BrownTeacher Action: Changing the system from within .................................................................................... 38

Susan Carburyオーストリア政府公認ドイツ語能力検定試験の概要とそのドイツ語授業に与える示唆. ........... 46

森田昌美Foreign Language Teaching in the 21st Century ........................................................................................ 51

Jean-Noel Juttet , Georg Schmidt, Rudolph Reinelt, Olivier Urbain, Kip A. Cates (Moderator)Has Esperanto a Chance in the 21st Century? ............................................................................................ 63

Alain Lauffenburger

Section Two: Children and Language EducationA Short-Term Language Immersion Case Study ........................................................................................ 70

Mitchell ClarkA Virtual Classroom for Bilingual Children............................................................................................... 73

Andrea Carlson, Reiko FuruyaElementary School EFL in 2002: Role of Phonics in Achieving Fluency ................................................. 82

Laurel D. KamadaMotivating Junior High School Students to Participate Through Directed Consciousness-Raising Activities............ 90

David Coulson

Section Three: Curriculum ConcernsCritical Pedagogy, Language Classrooms and Gender: The Case of Textbook Representationand Classroom interaction .......................................................................................................................... 99

Jane SunderlandAttending to ESL Concerns in Content-Based Instruction....................................................................... 115

V. Michael CribbStarting an Extensive Reading Program ................................................................................................... 121

Lois Scott-Conleyコーパスに基づいたリーダビリティの測定とその教育的応用. ..................................................... 129

長沼君主Expectation and Imagination in FL Literacy ........................................................................................... 136

Andy Barfield, David Dycus, Jane Joritz-NakagawaTeaching Language through Interpretation Training ................................................................................ 144

Miyuki Tanaka, Chikako TsurutaThe Global Issues Language Classroom .................................................................................................. 149

Don Hinkelman, Olivier Urbain, Gillian Giles, Brian Teaman

Section Four: InteractionsTeachers As Learners: Exploring Collaborative Action Research............................................................ 157

Anne Burns, with Steve Cornwell, Ethel Ogane and Shin’ichiro Yokomizo

Table of Contents


Section Four: Interactions cont...Understanding Classrooms: A Qualitative Approach ............................................................................... 170

Steve CornwellCollaborative Action Research with L2 Writers....................................................................................... 177

Tim Ashwell, Andy Barfield, Neil Cowie, Alan Milne, Mike Nix, Moderator: Dorothy ZemachAction Research in an Academic Skills Course ....................................................................................... 192

Gregory Strong, Jennifer Whittle, Vivian Cohen, Simon Himbury, and Richard KringleIncreasing Autonomy with Recorded Conversations ............................................................................... 198

Duane KindtImplementating Learning Strategies......................................................................................................... 204

Miriam Black

Section Five: Across CulturesIntercultural Dimensions of the Foreign Language Classroom: Communication Style Differences ....... 211

David Brooks, Yashiro Kyoko, Donna Fujimoto, Hamilton CruzA Cuuriculum for Student Ethnography................................................................................................... 217

Eton Churchil, Rani Vivathanachail“Cultural Knowings”: The Patrick Moran Framework ............................................................................ 222

Valerie Hansford, Mary Sandkamp, and Jaimie ScanlonTechniques in the Culture-Based Classroom............................................................................................ 229

Brian Cullen, Kazuyoshi Sato

Section Six: The Practical Teacher日本語教育のためのショートエクササイズ. ..................................................................................... 234

斉木ゆかり, 林伸一, 石田孝子, 二宮喜代子The Use of Transcripts with Audiotapes: Five Statistical Studies............................................................ 239

Michael Redfield, Steven LarsenTrends in Pronunciation Teaching in Japan .............................................................................................. 245

Veronika MakarovaEvaluation and Assessment of Video Movie Tasks .................................................................................. 251

Stephen PetrucioneUsing Movies to Teach Speaking ............................................................................................................. 257

Damian LucantonioLetters to the Editor: Critical Thinking Input ........................................................................................... 265

Akiko KatayamaConversational Storytelling in the Language Class.................................................................................. 269

Bob JonesThe Children’s Book Project: A Classroom Activity................................................................................ 274

Akira NakayamaUsing Authentic Materials to Motivate Students...................................................................................... 279

Charles Kelly, Larry Kelly, Mark Offner, Bruce VorlandThe Projects of the Internet TESL Journal ............................................................................................... 282

Charles Kelly, Larry KellyRaising Student Investment: Using Conversation Circles in Small Conversation Classes ...................... 286

Kim ParentReading and Writing for Discussion Groups ............................................................................................ 291

Gregory Strong

Table of Contents cont...


Section One

Changeand theFuture


Looking back on the history of language learning in Japan, it becomesevident that we should shift the paradigm of foreign language teachingfrom the one with a purely receptive purpose in the past to the one for amore active use in the coming years. The objective of English languageteaching in this country should be clearly defined, and the EFL curriculaat different levels of education have to be coordinated to achieve thatgoal. Considering the role Japan will, and should, play in the newcentury, it is obvious that the purpose should be for the Japanese peopleto use English as a common language to communicate internationally,with people from different cultures of the world. Substantial andprofessional discussion must continue to find the best possible ways andmeans to teach Japanese future generation English as a global language.

日本は遣唐使の時代から、海外に学び、進んだ文明を吸収してきた。その為、外国語学習の目的は専ら海外の先進国に学ぶ為の受容にあった。しかしグローバル化した２１世紀に求められる外国語能力は、国際語としての英語を駆使して多文化世界の人々と相互理解をはかる為の発信型コミュニケーションである。その為には、英語教育の目的を明確にし、各段階における学校英語教育に一貫性を持たせることが必要である。地球語としての英語をどのように習得させるか、真摯な検討を続けることが望まれる。

English has been an extremely important, as well aspopular, issue in Japan. And yet, there

seems to be no visual sign ofagreements on its teaching, let

alone in improvements in theEnglish language ability of

the Japanese people. Iwould like to present

here an overview of thehistory of languageteaching in Japan,discuss some currentissues related toEnglish, and finallytry to foresee thefuture of language

education in thiscountry in the 21st

century.

History of ForeignLanguage Education

in Japan

Edo PeriodForeign language in Japan has

historically been mainly for learningabout other cultures and civilizations. Yes,

there certainly was a need to use foreign languagesfor trade, even when there was an official mission to China in 600 AD,Japan learned from overseas, including some European countries. It isamazing to see how, even during the Edo Period when the country wasclosed to the outside world, people were eager to learn about other

EnglishLanguage

Education in Japan:Issues and InsightsTowards the New

Millennium

Kumiko TorikaiRikkyo University


countries through books and through interpreters. It is significant to see that the interpreters in Chineseand Dutch were officially designated as government officials, and they conducted both translating andinterpreting services professionally. Slightly before Commodore Perry, sent by the US Government,visited Japan, the government had the foresight to tell these interpreters to quickly learn English.

The first British who came to Japan was William Adams in 1600, who eventually became a foreignaffairs adviser to TOKUGAWA Ieyasu, the first Shogun of Edo Government. The very first native-speaker teacher of English in the history of Japan was an American named Ranald MacDonald, who triedto enter Japan illegally in 1848, believing somehow that his ancestors originally came from Japan. Thegovernment let him stay in Nagasaki for about 100 days, during which time some young interpreterslearned ‘authentic English’ from private lessons given by MacDonald. This is why an interpreter calledEinosuke Moriyama was able to communicate in English with Commodore Perry and his group.

Meiji EraDuring Meiji Era, the country became even more eager to learn from the West, inviting scholars from theWestern countries, such as Britain, France and Germany, to advise the government and to teach at higherlevel schools, and also translating a great number of books. It is not surprising, then, that foreignlanguages came to be considered as a vital means to learn about and import Western civilization, whichwas indispensable to modernize the nation. As such, the foreign language teaching was mainly forreceptive use, and the pedagogy was heavily geared toward grammar-translation method.

Another element which compounded this was the fact that it was chiefly the literature scholars whotaught foreign languages. They would naturally use as texts what they study and try to translate them intoJapanese. Thus, foreign language teaching has been considered to be part of literary study.

After WWIIThis trend continued until quite recently. There was what you might call a happy coexistence, wherelanguage teaching in higher education was part of an academic discipline, and language teaching forcommunicative purposes was left to private language schools as well as TV and radio programs.It was in the 1970s that a congressman questioned the status quo of English language teaching in Japan.Wataru Hiraizumi, then member of the House of Representatives, strongly criticized the English languageteaching at schools, claiming that the purpose of language teaching should be focused on practicalcommunication. To this, Professor Shouichi Watanabe of Sophia University counterattacked, advocatingthe need to learn foreign languages at colleges as part of intellectual and cultural training. Theirexchanges continued for a few years, involving many people in the field, and became to be known asHIRAIZUMI vs. WATANABE Debate.

Although no winner was announced for this famous debate, the social elements contributed torealizing what Hiraizumi advocated—to turn the English language teaching toward a more practical one.There are at least three elements that prompted the changes in the English language teaching, givingimpetus to introduce into Japan communicative language teaching or communicative approach, whichbecame prevalent in the 1970s around the world.

1990sThe first element that contributed to the shift from traditional grammar –translation method tocommunicative language teaching is business. With business becoming more international and globalized,the demand grew for their employees to have better command of English, primarily for communication. Itwas around this time that the Japan Association for Business Communication asked ETS to deviseTOEIC, specifically to test the communicative ability of business people.

The second element is a recent phenomenon of declining birth rate in this country. There are anumber of factors which caused this sharp decline, such as more women preferring to work rather thanstay home as a full-time housewife. As a result, the number of children decreased, and although morestudents go on to college now than previously, the entire population of the 18 year-old has been on thedecline dramatically. This naturally affects universities and colleges. What this means is that they can no

Torikai: English Language Education in Japan...


longer sit back and select students to enter their universities. They now have to fight for more students toapply, and if they don’t attract enough students, it is not unlikely that they go bankrupt. For the first timein history, universities in Japan are forced to consider the needs of the students in order to survive.

The third element accelerated this trend. In 1993, the Ministry of Education deregulated theirrequirement for university curricula and virtually left it at the discretion of each university. The mosttangible deregulation was seen in the basic curricula for the first two years of college education. In thepast, every university was obliged to set up a two year curriculum for the initial education for general,comprehensive study, and language teaching was usually a part of this basic study. Generally, English wasa required subject, and consequently, there existed virtually no competition for survival. No matter whatkind of classes were given, and no matter how much students complained, they had no choice but to takethem and pass them to graduate, and after all it was only for the first year or two. Hence, no improvementin teaching or pedagogy was even attempted in spite of complaints about it being totally ineffective anduseless.. After the deregulation, however, the situation totally changed. Faced with impunity with thecurricula of their own, many universities discarded the 2-year basic curriculum, integrating it with thecontent study of each department. There are even some colleges who gave up a required English coursealtogether and made it elective, but the majority reorganized the language curriculum to answer the needsof the society and to attract more students. To name a few, the University of Tokyo radically changed theirEnglish language program on Komaba campus; and private universities are even more active in thechanges—Keio University introduced innovative foreign language programs on their new campus atShonan, and Rikkyo University has undergone a revolutionary change in their general curriculum, not justin the teaching itself but involving a university-wide organizational change, scrapping the old languageteaching and creating whole new language programs supported by all colleges and departments across theuniversity.

Issues at Present

At present, there are two big issues concerning English. One is an idea to designate English as a secondofficial language in Japan. It was one of the many proposals made by a special council to the PrimeMinister on the future of Japan in the 21st century, but as soon as it was made public, this particularproposal overshadowed all the other proposals. Overnight, it became a nation-wide issue, and leadingnewspapers and magazines carried debates on the proposal.

The proposal was made presumably to achieve exactly this—to stir up arguments among Japanesepeople and let them realize the need to acquire English. It would be too presumptuous to think that theproposal would become a reality, because in a strictly legal sense, we don’t even have the first officiallanguage. We take it for granted that the Japanese language is our official language, and it surely has beenthe case, but there is as yet any law stipulating it. Also, many people doubt the necessity to make Englishan official language, when there is really no need for it. Japan is not a multilingual society where youneed some common language to communicate with each other. Rather, this is quite a homogeneouscountry where Japanese language prevails.

On the other hand, it seems like another issue that has been debated for some time now, may cometrue, and that is to teach elementary children English. Up until recently, except for some private schools, ithas been a standard thing for children going to public schools to start learning English when they enterjunior high school at the age of 12. With mounting frustration over English teaching at secondary andtertiary schools, people started to think that perhaps lowering the age for English language learning mighthelp. A number of factors prompted this even further: the demand from business for communicativeability of English, as well shockingly low TOEFL score of Japanese learners of English. Since there isalso strong opposition against introducing English classes in elementary school curricula from peoplewho fear that already serious plight of public school education will be even more jeopardized with morethings to teach, and also from people who feel children should spend more time on basic subjects such asJapanese language, arithmetic, and science, the Ministry of Education launched a compromised solution.They announced, in their newly revised Course of Study, the start of what they term a SogoKamoku(Comprehensive Subjects) which entails such fields as environment, computer science and



Kokusai Rikai (international understanding). Kokusai Kyouiku(International Education) was originallysuggested by UNESCO to foster world peace through understanding each other. The Ministry ofEducation suggested that within this framework of International Understanding Education, many thingscould be taught, including such things as English conversation. This is all they said. However, it has beeninterpreted that English would be taught in public elementary schools nationwide from the year 2002.Already, some schools have started teaching English to children, and it looks like it is inevitable to seemajority of schools teaching conversational English one way or the other. The problem with this is thatsince English is not a full-fledged subject, no expert teacher is going to be provided and no specifictextbook is going to be assigned, apart from a teaching manual that the Ministry of Education is hastilyputting together. It is simply a part of the International Understanding course, and what is taught by whois left for each school to decide. Some schools may ask an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) to teach aclass, or some might ask parents or people in the neighborhood to come and speak to children aboutoverseas life. Thus, the professionals in the field fear that this might make it difficult for junior highschool teachers, who will be obliged to teach students with a variety of linguistic experience andknowledge.

It is significant to note that even Kokugo Shingikai, the Council on the National Language Policy,which ordinarily discusses the Japanese language and makes proposals to the Minister of Education,discussed foreign language teaching in Japan in their final report published in December,2000, andspecifically stressed the importance of education of the Japanese language, stating that it should serve asthe basis for the overall communicative ability of the Japanese people in the globalized world of the 21st

century..

Insights into the Future

In light of the present situation, the former Minister of Education convened a special committee to advisehim on the overall policy of English language education in Japan. The committee presented a report to theMinistry of Education in December this year, and although it was difficult to reach consensus on differentissues, one thing the members agreed on was to address the need to coordinate the teaching of English ondifferent levels, and to discuss and decide on the goals and objectives of teaching English.

What this implies is that so far, there has been no tangible efforts seen to coordinate the secondaryand tertiary levels of teaching English. Junior high schools would blame the entrance exam to enter seniorhigh school as the cause for the failure in teaching communicative English, and in return, senior highschools would accuse universities for their entrance exams for the failure in high school English teaching.What is lacking here is an effort to bridge the gap between each level, and to give some coherence inlanguage teaching to make it more effective. Secondary and tertiary schools have tried to improve Englishteaching independently, and no attempt has been made to set the objectives for each level, let alone todecide on the final goals of teaching English to Japanese youth.

Therefore, the first and foremost, we have to discuss and come to consensus on the reason why theJapanese need to study English in the first place, and if it’s necessary, as it obviously is, what kind ofEnglish we should teach the future generation.

Looking back on the history of language learning in this country, what becomes self-evident is theneed for us to shift the paradigm of foreign language teaching from the one with a purely receptivepurpose in the past to the one for a more active use in the coming years.

When you think of the tightly- knit, high-context trait of Japanese culture, we have to realize thetask that is being placed on language teachers is a tremendous one. The Japanese way of communicationis a reflection of its extremely high-context culture, and for these people to try to learn English, which hasthe character of a low context culture, is no easy task. The introduction of English in elementary schoolswould have to be formulated with this in mind—its teaching objective should not be the language per se,but rather, to prepare them to become better communicators in any language, not to mention the mothertongue, as well as to foster their sensitivity toward different cultures and different peoples of the world.Based on this, junior high school can start to give students initial introduction to the basic elements ofEnglish, including pronunciation. High Schools, in turn, can proceed to teach the four skills of language,



namely, reading, writing, speaking and listening., with communicative competence as an ultimate goal.The universities, then, can build on this fundamental knowledge and give them more communicativetraining, in its true sense of the word. Universities and colleges are the ideal place for English for SpecificPurposes, preparing students for their future careers and roles they will be playing in the society.

Finally, it should be stressed that the objective of English language teaching in this country shouldbe clearly defined. If you consider the role Japan will, and should, play in the new century, it is obviousthat the purpose should be for the Japanese people to use English as a common language to communicatein an international community, with people from different cultures of the world. In other words, we nolonger study it for the sake of learning from the West, but instead, we learn it to use as a means forinternational communication. It is my hope that substantial and professional discussion would pursue tofind the best possible ways and means to teach Japanese future generation English as a global language.

References

Crystal,D.(1997). English as a global language. Cambridge University Press.

Graddol,D.(1997).The future of English? The British Council.

Funabashi, Y. (2000). Aete Eigo kouyou-go ron. Tokyo: Bungei-shinsho.

Huntington, S. P. (1996). The clash of civilizations: Remaking of world order.

New York: Touchstone.

Katan, D. (1999). Translating cultures: an introduction for translators, interpreters, and mediators.St.Jerome.

Nakatsu, R. (1974). Nande Eigo yaruno? Tokyo:Bungeishunju.

Suzuki,T.& T.Kawasumi(Eds).(1999). Nihon eigaku-shi.Tokyo:Taishuukan.

Suzuki,T.(1999).Nihon-jin wa naze Eigo ga dekinaika. Tokyo:Iwanami.

Suzuki,Y., K.Yoshida, M.Shimozaki & S.Tanaka(1997). Communication to shiteno eigo

kyouiku-ron. Tokyo:ALC.

Tanabe, Y. (1990). Gakkou eigo. Tokyo:Chikuma Shobou.

Tanaka, S. (1994). Dokoe iku? Daigaku no gaikokugo kyouiku. Tokyo:Sanshuusha.

Torikai,K.(1996). Daigaku eigo kyouiku no kaikaku. Tokyo:Sanshuusha.

Torikai,K.(1996).Ibunka wo koeru Eigo:Nihonjin wa naze hanasenaika. Tokyo:Maruzen.

Torikai,K., Takayama,I., Sanematsu,K., Torikai,S. & J.Shaules.. Curriculum innovation at Rikkyo Univer-sity. Symposium at AILA 1999, Tokyo.



It seems that learning English is everyone’s main interest in Korea. Ittakes priority over all other things. Mastering English is a challengingtask for most of Koreans; they believe commanding English is a must inthe age of information. This article focuses on the following questions:(a) If we begin to teach English to elementary school students, who willteach?; (b) To what grade will we begin to teach English?; (c) Is there anyoptimal age for second language education?; (d) How will we train theneeded teachers in a short period of time?; and (e) Is teaching Englishthrough English efficient in an EFL context? Problems faced so far willalso be described.

While mastering English is a challenging task for most Koreans, theybelieve commanding English is a must in the age of information. Thispresentation is based on Korea’s four years of experience with teachingEnglish to elementary school students, and will focus on the followingquestions: (a) If we begin to teach English to elementary school students,who will teach?; (b) To what grade will we begin to teach English?; (c) Isthere any optimal age for second language acquisition?; (d) How will wetrain the needed teachers in a short period of time?; and (e) Is teaching

English through English efficient in an EFL context?Problems faced so far will also be

described.Let’s begin with a historical

overview of teaching English toelementary school students in

Korea:

•In 1972 the Koreangovernment decided toteach English in modelschools first and thento e x p a n d to anationwide teachingprogram if it hadgood effects.

•In October, 1981teaching English to

young learners (4thgrade and up) was

allowed.

•In 1982 elementary schoolsbegan to teach English as an extra-

curricular subject in club activityhours.

•In September, 1992 the Korean Ministry of Educationpublished Elementary School Curricula.

Challenges forthe New

Millennium inKorea: English

Education

In LeeChonju National

University of Education


•In November, 1994 globalization became one of the Korean government’s leading policies.

•In February, 1995 the Globalization Committee of the Korean Government proposed teachingEnglish to elementary school students as one of their compulsory subjects.

•In March, 1995 the Ministry of Education announced that English would be taught to the thirdgrade two hours per week from the year of 1997. And they began to develop a national curriculumfor teaching English to elementary school students.

•In November, 1995 Elementary School Curricula (6th revision) was published.

•In July, 1996 Expounder of Elementary School Curricula (IV): English was published.

•In December, 1997 Elementary School Curricula (7th revision), Foreign Language Curricula(I), and Expounder of Elementary School Curricula (V): Foreign Language (English) werepublished. The 7th National Curriculum is to be applied in the following order: 1st & 2ndgrades adopt this curricula in 2000; 3rd, 4th, & 7th grades adopt this curricula in 2001; 5th, 6th,8th, & 10th grades adopt this curricula in 2002; 9th & 11th grades adopt this curricula in 2003;12th grade adopts this curricula in 2004.

The Issue of Who Will Teach?

Now let’s think about the first question: If we begin to teach English to elementary school students, whowill teach? Table 1 shows how many eligible teachers were available when the Korean governmentdecided to implement teaching English in elementary schools. In Korea, as in Japan, homeroom teachersteach all subjects at the elementary school level. As we will see in Table 3, we needed at least 16,231teachers, but only 7,643 teachers were available. Among them 368 teachers were holding a secondaryschool English teacher’s license, 6,445 teachers had attended short-term English training programs, and103 teachers had chosen English as their specialized area at teacher’s college (Lee, 1996). Even if wemade use of the potential teacher pool, we still needed about 9,000 teachers.

Table 1: Potential English Teacher Pool (as of December 1996)

Holding Attended Specialized Self Trained Required NeededSecondary Short in EnglishEnglish Term at Teacher’sTeaching Training CollegeLicense

Numberof Teachers 368 6,445 103 706 16,231 about 9,000

(cf. Table 3)Total 7,643

(adopted from Lee, 1996, p. 5)

Table 2 shows us the broad outline of elementary schools in 1996. The numbers in parenthesesindicate the number of women. According to these statistics, we can estimate 106,594 teachers wereneeded in 1997 because each class required one homeroom teacher. It was impossible, however, to supplysuch a large number of teachers at once. That is one of the reasons why we did not begin to teach Englishfrom the first grade.

In Lee: Challenges for the New Millenium in Korea...


Table 2: The Broad Outline of Elementary Schools in 1996

Number of Number of Number of Number ofSchools Classes Students Teachers

Total 5,732 106,594 3,800,540 137,912 (78,872)National Schools 17 340 13,800 444 (129)Public Schools 5,639 104,793 3,725,840 135,722 (78,023)Private Schools 76 1,461 60,900 1,746 (720)

(adapted from Statistical Yearbook of Education 1996, p. 68)

Table 3 shows how many classes in each grade there were in 1996. Here a single grade class refersto any class which consists of the same grade students only. In rural areas, some schools have so small anumber of students that classes cannot be divided by grade; two or three grades are put into one class.Such a case is called a multiple-grade class. To make the calculation simple, let’s take into account thesingle grade classes only. The total number of the second grade classes in 1996 was 16,231. This meansthat we needed as many teachers in 1997 when teaching English was implemented.

Table 3: Single Grade Classes in 1996

1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rdGrade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade

Total 16,704 16,231 16,234 16,423 17,076 17,254National Schools 58 58 58 57 55 54Public Schools 16,401 15,931 15,934 16,125 16,779 16,956Private Schools 245 242 242 241 242 244

(adapted from Statistical Yearbook of Education 1996, p.72)

The Issues of To What Grade? and What is the Optimal Age?

Now let’s think about the second and third questions: (b) “To what grade will we begin to teach English?”and (c) “Is there any optimal age for second language acquisition?” Here the terms ‘second language’ and‘second language acquisition’ refer to ‘any language that is learned subsequent to the mother tongue’ and‘either learning a language naturally as a result of living in a country where it is spoken or learning it in aclassroom through instruction’, respectively (Ellis, 1997).

The answer to the question, “To what grade will we begin to teach English at elementary schools?”is closely related to the Ministry of Education’s policies on language education and the nationalconsensus. There were hot debates between people who agreed with the early English education andpeople who didn’t. The opponents argued against the proposal for two main reasons. First, they argued ifteaching English were implemented at the elementary school level, the children would lose theiridentities. Secondly, adding one more subject would lead elementary school children to a larger burden oflearning. To gain a national consensus, public hearings were held in different places over and over, andfinally the Ministry of Education decided to include English in the elementary school curriculum.

Table 4 shows how many subjects elementary school students are taking. The numbers in the tablestand for the minimum unit hours: 40 minutes constitute one unit hour. One academic year consists of 34weeks in class and 18 weeks of vacation: 7 weeks of summer vacation, 9 weeks of winter vacation, and 2weeks of the end-of-school-year vacation. English titles of some subjects for the first and second gradesneed to be explained: Ethics is called Proper Manners; Social Studies and Nature are combined into onesubject called Prudent Life; and PE, Music and Art are combined into one called Pleasant Life (they are



SUBJECTS

literally translated from Korean titles). Before English was included in the curriculum, elementary schoolstudents used to take nine subjects. Here we see that the third grade begins to take English two unit hoursper week.

Table 4: Standard of time allotment for each subject

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade

Ethics (Morals) (Proper Manners)

60 68 34 34 34 34

Korean 210 238 238 204 204 204

Math 120 136 136 136 170 170

Social Studies (Prudent Life) 102 102 136 136

Nature (Science) 120 136 102 136 136 136

PE (Pleasant Life) 102 102 102 102

Music 180 238 68 68 68 68

Art 68 68 68 68

Practical Arts - - 34 34 34 34

English - - 68 68 68 68

Club Activities 30 34 34 68 68 68

Discretional Hours - - 0-34 0-34 0-34 0-34

Total Hours Per Year 720 850 986 - 1,020- 1,088 - 1,088-

1,020 1,054 1,122 1,122

(Expounder of Elementary School Curricula (IV): English, p.4)

Now let’s think about why we began to teach English from the third grade, not from another grade.This question is related to the issue of an optimal age. A convincing argument for early learning of asecond language comes from the so-called Critical Period Hypothesis, which states that there is a periodduring which language acquisition is easy and complete (i.e. native speaker ability is achieved) andbeyond which it is difficult and typically incomplete. When is the critical period? It is generally acceptedthat the critical period is before the puberty (about the age of 12). Thus, the elementary school period isconsidered the optimal age for learning a second language. The first and second grades are somewhatimmature; therefore, their learning should be focused on their mother tongue. When the second year ofschooling is complete, most children reach the state of adult grammar in their mother tongue.

The issue of How to Train the Needed Teachers?

Now, let’s think about the fourth question: How will we train the needed teachers in a short period oftime? Table 3 showed that we needed at least 16,231 teachers for the 1997 academic year. Nationaluniversities of education are mainly responsible for educating students who want to be elementary schoolteachers. They are located in 11 cities in Korea: Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Inch’on, Kwangju, Ch’unchon,Ch’ongju, Kongju, Chonju, Chinju, and Cheju. Table 5 shows how many graduates would be able tobecome elementary school teachers. The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of women includedin the total number. Seniors in 1996 could be hired as elementary school teachers in 1997; the totalnumber comes to 4,643 at most, only half of the needed teachers. The Korean government had to find away to solve this teacher demand problem.



Table 5: Enrolled Students at Elementary School Teacher Training Universities

T.O. of New Entrants Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

4,465 4,461 (3,652) 5,388 (3,845) 5,797 (4,128) 4,643 (3,627)

(adopted from Statistical Yearbook of Education 1996, pp.668-9)

Table 6 shows how soon we began to prepare for the demand of elementary school English teachers.Let’s compare the freshman (F) columns with the sophomore (So) columns. Here class means students’specialized area (it is informally called department); freshmen are divided into classes to which they wantto belong. We can see that the number of new entrants for the 1992 academic year was increased by 14classes. This means the English-specialized class has been offered since 1992.

Table 6: Enrolled Students at Elementary School Teacher Training Colleges

Number of Classes Number of Students

F So J Se Total F So J Se Total

98 84 84 84 350 4,026 3,894 3,997 4,587 16,504

(adopted from Statistical Yearbook of Education 1992, pp.634-5)

Table 7 shows the requirements for obtaining an elementary school teacher’s certificate. Thenumbers in parentheses indicate compulsory/elective credits. Statistics are based on the SchoolRegulations of Chonju National University of Education (CNUE) at which the author of this article isworking. The details of some sub-areas may vary according to each teacher training school. Each studentat CNUE takes 41 credits in liberal arts courses and 110 credits in professional education courses; this isthe minimum requirement.

Table 7: Curriculum of Elementary Teacher Education Program (in case of CNUE)

Professional Education Coursework Liberal

Total Arts SubjectCourses Pedagogy Teaching & Specialized Practicum Graduation

Club Subject Thesis Activities

Credits 151 41 20 65 21 4 P/F(31/10)* (16/4) (57/8)

(adopted from Guidebook for Freshmen 1997, CNUE, p.43)

Table 8 shows how teaching practicum is carried out in the case of CNUE. Each teachers college has one or twoattached elementary schools. CNUE has two attached elementary schools, but two schools are not enough. Every yearthe university designates additional elementary schools for students’ practicum and this year four elementary schoolsare helping the university offer the practicum. The students take eight weeks of practicum. Freshmen take one week ofpracticum focused on observation; juniors participate in four weeks of classroom management; and seniors take three



weeks of practicum focused on teaching. The university plans to revise this practicum as follows: two weeks ofobservation in the second year, three weeks of classroom management in the third year, and four weeks of teaching inthe fourth year.

Table 8. Supervised Teaching Practicum (in case of CNUE)

Freshman Junior SeniorLength of Period 1 week 4 weeks 3 weeks

Focus of Practicum Observation Classroom TeachingManagement

(adopted from Guidebook for Freshmen 1997, p. 46)

Table 9 shows how students who take English as their specialized area at CNUE are trained. Thestudents take 21 credits in English and English education courses. The first Arabic numerals 2, 3, and 4 inthe When to offer column stand for sophomore, junior, and senior, respectively. K and E in the Lecturercolumn stand for Korean instructor and English native speaker, respectively. The number of studentsenrolled in English native speaker’s class is limited to 20, about half of the regular class size. Of course,the courses offered at each teachers college vary according to its own curriculum.

Table 9. Specialized Subject Courses Currently Offered (in case of CNUE)

COURSE TITLE When to offer Credit-Hours Lecturer

English Pronunciation 2 - 2 3 - 3 KClassroom English 3 - 1 3 - 3 KEnglish Grammar & Writing 3 - 2 3 - 3 KUnderstanding of British & American Culture 4 - 1 2 - 2 KIntermediate English Conversation 4 - 1 2 - 3 EBritish & American Literature for Children 4 - 1 2 - 3 KSeminar in English Education 4 - 2 3 - 3 KAdvanced English Conversation 4 - 2 3 - 3 E

So far we have dealt with how to train would-be teachers. The number of graduates with anelementary school teacher’s certificate was not enough; we still needed about 4,500 teachers then. Tomeet the demand of English teachers, teachers colleges have offered in-service training programs forEnglish teaching during vacations every year with financial support from the Ministry of Education. Table10 shows how many teachers have attended in-service training programs. Just before implementingEnglish to elementary schools, 10,706 teachers attended in-service training programs. Some of themparticipated in intensive English training programs. Here we may pay attention to the change of theparticipants in overseas training. During the 1998 school year, the number of overseas trainingparticipants decreased rapidly from three digits to two digits because of the economic crisis in Korea.

Table 10. In-service Training

Total Training for General OverseasCertificate Training Training

96. 3 - 97. 2 10,706 2,266 8,440 69897. 3 - 98. 2 7,934 564 7,370 97398. 3 - 99. 2 11,016 1,271 12,961 54

(adopted from Statistical Yearbook of Education, 1997, 1998, 1999)



Table 11 shows how many teachers have attended in-service training in English recently offered atCNUE. Prior to the implementation of English teaching at elementary schools, 441 teachers in theChonbuk province area attended in-service training in English programs (cf. shaded boxes). Allelementary school teachers are supposed to take 120 hours of in-service training in English as part ofpreparation for English teaching. The number of potential English teachers at elementary schoolsgradually increased. This is one of the ways to solve the problem of ‘Who will teach?’.

Table 11: In-service Training in English Recently Offered at CNUE

Duration of Training Number of Attendants

July 18 - August 12, 1996 160December 17, 1996 - January 16, 1997 162January 15 - February 6, 1997 119July 21 - August 14, 1997 123December 22, 1997 - January 17, 1998 122July 21 - August 12, 1998 100July 19 - August 11, 1999 102July 18 - August 12, 2000 122

Due to the Korean government organization reforms, many veteran teaching practitioners retiredthree years earlier than usual. The retirement age changed from 65 to 62. Thus, we needed emergencyhiring measures. A considerable number of people who had secondary school teacher’s certificate in Arts,Music, PE, or English were hired as elementary school teachers and re-trained for three months. Look atTable 12. 90 participants were the people who had a secondary English teacher’s certificate but were nothired yet. About the same number of teachers who had got a secondary school teacher’s certificate in PE,Music or Arts were also trained for English teaching. It was a provisional program, but helped us solvethe problem of teacher demand.

Table 12: Provisional Training of Secondary School English-teaching-license Holders

When to offer Hours Number of Attendants

June 7 - August 16, 1999 336 90December 29, 1999 - February 29, 2000 352July 6 - August 26, 2000 395Grand Total 1,083 90

Why were the people who had a secondary school teacher’s certificate retrained to becomeelementary school teachers? Secondary school teachers are hired as subject teachers, while elementaryschool teachers in general are employed as homeroom teachers. Every homeroom teacher at elementaryschools has to teach all the subjects the students take. That is the reason why they were retrained. Table 13shows the minimum requirements for the secondary school teacher’s certificate. Here normal means‘students of the College of Education either in national or private universities’. They are majoring in onesubject area and after graduation, they become subject teachers. Non-normal means ‘students who aremajoring in other areas rather than education, but take some education courses’. The former gets a Grade2-A Certificate, while the latter gets a Grade 2-B Certificate. Both groups of people have to pass thenational exam before they are hired.



Table 13: Minimum Credits Required For Secondary Teacher Certification

Colleges General Courses Specialization Pedagogy Practicum Total

Normal about 60 about 40 22 four weeks 122 +Non-normal about 60 about 40 20 four weeks 120 +

(adopted from Choe, 1999, ms.)

The issue of ‘Teaching English through English’

Finally, let’s think about the fifth question: Is teaching English through English efficient in an EFLcontext? Table 14 shows how English teachers feel the demand of teaching English in English classes.There are 16 Boards of Education in Korea: Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Inch’on, Kwangju, Taejon, Ulsan,Kangwon, Kyonggi, Kyongnam, Kyongbuk, Chonnam, Chonbuk, Cheju, Ch’ungnam, Ch’ungbuk. SinceEnglish has been taught bilingually either in elementary or secondary schools, most teachers are under alot of stress when they are asked to teach English in English. The survey is based on self-evaluation; thus,the result may not reflect the exact picture of the real situation. A relatively small number of secondaryschool teachers feel confident in teaching English through English. It seems, however, that elementaryschool teachers feel more confident in teaching English through English (The video tape we will watchshows this.).

Table 14: Survey Of Secondary School English Teachers (as of April 2000)

Nationwide Seoul Kyongnam Chungnam Kwangju

Total Numberof Respondents 21,562 4,657 1,462 981 732

Number ofPositive Responses 3,266 230 134 100 224

Percentage 15.1 4.9 9.2 10.2 30.6

(adopted from The Dong-a Ilbo, September 25, 2000, A29)

Conclusion

So far we have shown what problems the Korean government had when they decided to implementteaching English to elementary schools and how they solved the problems. It is not easy to decidewhether to implement teaching English in elementary schools and when to do that. We have two choices:(i) implementing first and then solving the problems, if any; or (ii) good preparation beforeimplementation. The Korean government chose the first. The results cannot be judged yet, but it is hopedthat teaching English at the elementary school level will bear fruitful results in the future.



References

Choe, Y. P. (1999). Foreign Language Education in Korea. Unpublished paper read at the Conference onthe Language Education Policy in the East Asia under the auspices of the Japan Association of CollegeEnglish Teachers on August 7-10, 1999 at the Tokyo Olympic Youth Center.

Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.

Lee, H. (1996). Textbook for In-Service Training in English. Chonju: Chonju National University ofEducation.

Ministry of Education. (1992). Statistical Yearbook of Education 1992. Seoul: Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education. (1995). Elementary School Curricula. Seoul: Daehan Textbook Co., Ltd.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Expounder of Elementary School Curricula (IV): English. Seoul: DaehanTextbook Co., Ltd.


Ministry of Education. (1997). Elementary School Curricula. Seoul: Daehan Textbook Co., Ltd.

Ministry of Education. (1997). Expounder of Elementary School Curricula (V): Foreign Language (En-glish). Seoul: Daehan Textbook Co., Ltd.

Ministry of Education. (1997). Foreign Language Curricula (I). Seoul: Daehan Textbook Co., Ltd.

Chonju National University of Education. (1997). Guidebook for Freshmen 1997.






本論文では筆者及びその同僚によって行われた香港における社会言語学的状況のケーススタディ―を報告する。1982年の脱植民地化に関する英中合意や1997年の主権返還を経験するなど過去20年にわたる香港の社会＝政治的変化に伴い、香港人によって使用される言語パターンも変化している。面接調査と観察を通じて、全ての被調査者が香港において様々な目的の為に2つ以上の言語もしくは言語バラエティ―を用いていることが明らかとなり、これは「二言語使用なき二言語併用」は香港において「増加する二言語使用を伴う多言語使用」へと向かっているという主張と合致する。個々の言語や言語バラエティ―(英語・広東語・普通話)の社会的地位の発展について論じる。

This paper presents a case study investigating the sociolinguistic situationin Hong Kong conducted by the author and her colleagues. It starts with aliterature review of the sociolinguistic situation in Hong Kong for thepast two decades, before focusing on the current study, in whichinterviews and observations were carried out to form a picture of thelanguage patterns among the participants. The paper concludes withpredictions regarding the developing social status of each specificlanguage.

From the macro perspective, Hong Kong was considered 20 yearsago as a society of diglossia without bilingualism (Luke & Richards,

1982). By diglossia, Luke and Richards meant thatHong Kong was a society where two languages

— Cantonese and English — were mostdominantly used. Cantonese was the

spoken language of the majority ofHong Kong Chinese, serving as the

lingua franca for that population.English was the other dominant

language, but it had a uniquestatus in Hong Kong. It wasconsidered as neither a secondlanguage nor a foreignlanguage. It was the officiallanguage, but “… not usedby Chinese amongthemselves, except for

certain untypical and highlyrestricted functions, as for

example, by students inEnglish-medium schools …

required to use English in class”(Luke & Richards, 1982, p.55).

Mandarin did not have official statusat that time and was not an inter-

dialectal means of communication.Although two languages were dominant

and significant, Luke and Richards (1982) did notconsider Hong Kong as a society of individual bilingualism.

Individual bilingualism occurs where individual members of a societyuse two languages within particular domains such as employment, leisureactivities and social life. However, individual linguistic repertoires inHong Kong were largely confined to one of the languages of the society,

TheSociolinguistic

Situationin Hong Kong:A Case Study

Qin JiangCity Universityof Hong Kong


either Cantonese or English. A single language was used for intragroup communication rather thanintergroup communication. It was therefore more accurate to describe the context as intragroupmonolingualism rather than individual bilingualism.

Two decades later, the situation of diglossia without bilingualism has given way to polyglossia withincreasing bilingualism (Li, 1999). As far as bilingualism is concerned, some studies have revealed thatthe degree of bilingualism among Hong Kong Chinese is on the increase (e.g., Bacon-Shone & Bolton,1998; Bolton & Kwok, 1990). As Li (1999) illustrated, the term diglossia is also in need of revision. Sincethe start of the decolonization process of Hong Kong in 1982 and change of sovereignty in 1997, whenHong Kong ceased to be a British colony and became a Special Administrative Region of China, manyscholars have anticipated an increasingly significant role for Mandarin in Hong Kong. As So (1989)predicted in his paper, the emergence of triglossic conditions is perhaps the most likely emergent trend.Similarly, Bauer (1984) expected that the importance of Mandarin would soar in the future, and,eventually, in his words, “eclipse Cantonese, which will be reduced to the regional status it now has in thePRC” (p. 39). An overview of the sociolinguistic matrix of Hong Kong is given by Li (1999) in Table 1.

Table 1: Polyglossia and bilingualism in Hong Kong (Li, 1999)

High Low

Written Language 1. Standard Written Chinese (SWC) Cantonese (sometimes mixed with English)2. English

Spoken Language 1. Cantonese (often based on SWC) 1. Cantonese (often mixed with English)2. English (contingent) 2.English (context-specific)

There are two written varieties for high functions, Standard Written Chinese (SWC) and English,since government documents require records in both languages. However, the unmarked written languagechoice in official settings is English. The spoken language for high functions is mostly Cantonese; forexample, news broadcasts are usually first scripted in SWC and then read out in Cantonese. SpokenEnglish is seldom used by Hong Kong Chinese for high functions, unless non-Chinese speakers arepresent. The patterns of language use for low functions are less complicated. Cantonese frequently mixedwith some English is used for both spoken and written purposes. Spoken English is used for some specificpurposes, such as between employers and Filipina domestic helpers.

The current study

The current study is designed to test two hypothetical claims: (1) Is diglossia giving way to triglossia inHong Kong? (2) Is individual bilingualism on the increase in Hong Kong? Owing to the small scale ofour study, it is impossible to depict the broad sociolinguistic situation of Hong Kong as a whole. Instead,we have adopted a more micro approach – using a case study to dig into the language use of someindividuals within Hong Kong.

Participants

Among our friends or colleagues, we selected as our informants four individuals who had been living inHong Kong for at least 6 months and who speak at least two language varieties. The four participants arepresented here under the aliases Christy, Amy, Carol and Brian. All of them are of Chinese nationality, butthey were born and grew up in different places. Christy, female, 19 years old, was born in Macau andcame to Hong Kong with her family when she was five or six years old. Her home language wasCantonese. Now she is a university undergraduate in Hong Kong. She is fluent in Cantonese, speaks alittle Mandarin. She can write English but is not fluent in speaking English. Amy, female, 29 years old,was born in China and came to Hong Kong three years ago. She is fluent in Mandarin and fairly fluent inCantonese and English. Carol, female, 33 years old, was born in China, too. She came to Hong Kong

Qin Jiang: The Sociolinguistic Situation in Hong Kong...


when she was very young. She had been living in the US for several years, where she got an MA degree.Now she is a PhD candidate in Hong Kong. She is fluent in Cantonese, English and also Mandarin. Brian,male, 38 years old, was born in Malaysia. He has been living in Hong Kong for 10 years. He is quitefluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Malay. He can also write Greek and Hebrew and speakHakka. The demographic profile of the participants is summarized in Appendix I.

Method

Individual interviews with each of the participants were conducted. Before each interview, the researchersprepared a questionnaire (see Appendix II) to investigate the participants’ use of various languages orlanguage varieties in different situations. The questions about their language patterns were open-ended toelicit as much information as possible. Each researcher was responsible for interviewing one participant.If the researcher wished to, she could decide to conduct a second or even a third interview. The firstinterview with each participant took about 1 hour. Two researchers administered the second interviewwith their informants, half an hour for each. As the participants’ friends or colleagues, we also spent sometime with them at home or in work to observe their language behaviors.

Results

The results about the language patterns in use for both speaking and writing are displayed in Table 2.

Table 2 Language Patterns of the Informants in the current study

High Low Restricted

Written Language 1. Standard Written Chinese (SWC) 1. English (ICQ, email, etc.) Malay2. English 2. SWC Greek

3. Cantonese (sometimes Hebrewmixed with English)

Spoken Language 1. Cantonese (often based on SWC) 1. Cantonese (often mixed Malay2. English with English) Hakka3. Mandarin 2. Mandarin

Written language patternsIt was found that all the informants can write English and Standard Written Chinese (SWC). WrittenEnglish is mostly used in work, or at school, that is, for professional or academic purposes, so we cancategorize written English as a High Variety. On the other hand, we can also categorize English into a lowvariety, if we take into account the email or ICQ communication, which usually takes place between closefriends in informal situations. All our informants use email in informal contact with their friends andcolleagues. One of them Christy, the youngest, uses the most ICQ communication. In such computer-related communication, English is preferred since it is rather complex to type Chinese, either Cantoneseor SWC. For most of the informants, SWC is a high variety, used in work or at school. There is oneexception, Amy. For her, SWC is used both for high and low functions, since Mandarin is her nativelanguage, and she writes Chinese for both official and personal purposes.

For low functions, written Cantonese is often used mixed with English. The informant who uses themost written Cantonese mixed with English is Christy, the youngest. The written Cantonese is mostlyused as a low variety, such as in very informal communication with her peers. This is in conformity withwhat we have observed in HK; that is, the younger generation, to which Christy belongs, knows morewritten Cantonese than the older generations.

Therefore, there are three dominant written languages for different purposes. One of the informants,Brian, a Malaysian Chinese, knows some other written languages besides English and SWC. They areMalay, Greek and Hebrew, but they are only used for very specific purposes, like for students’



assignments, so they can be considered as restricted in Hong Kong.

Spoken language patternsFor high functions, such as in classroom communication between the instructor and the students (two ofthe informants are college students and two are secondary school teachers), spoken English is mainlyused. Cantonese is almost equally used for professional and academic purposes, although it is stipulatedthat English is the medium of classroom instruction in college education. Mandarin appears in someofficial settings: for example, one of the informants, Amy, speaks Mandarin with her boss and some ofHong Kong colleagues. For low functions, Cantonese mixed with some English is popular among theinformants. All of them can speak Mandarin if necessary, although their proficiency levels differ. One ofthe informants, Brian, can speak Malay and some Hakka, but in restricted contexts.

Discussion

The study has shown that three languages or language varieties – Cantonese, English and Mandarin – arecommonly used for particular purposes in Hong Kong. All the participants are fluent or fairly fluent in atleast two of them. On the other hand, individual linguistic repertoires are being extended to two languagevarieties and even more. Such results provide some supportive evidence for the two hypotheticalstatements that (1) the macro-sociolinguitic situation of Hong Kong is going towards “polyglossia withincreasing bilingualism” (Li, 1999) from “diglossia without bilingualism” (Luke & Richards, 1982) or“classic diglossia with some bilingualism” (So, 1989); and (2) individual bilingualism is on the increase.The sociolinguistic change might result from social-political change in Hong Kong, which witnessed thestart of the decolonisation process in 1982 and change of sovereignty in 1997.

Based on the current study and comparison with previous studies, we hope it would not be tooambitious to make some predictions of the social status of each language discussed here for the nearfuture. There is no doubt that Cantonese, especially in its spoken form, is and will still be the dominantlanguage in Hong Kong. Written Cantonese is popular in the mass media and is understandable to mostCantonese speakers, although many of them do not know how to write it. It has also been found that moreand more younger generations know the written form of Cantonese. For the new immigrants or businesspeople from mainland China, it is very important for them to learn Cantonese to adapt themselves to thelocal community. For example, one of the informants, Amy, had to learn Cantonese, although she wasunwilling to do so, in order to make her living and working in Hong Kong more convenient. We do nottherefore agree with scholars who have envisaged that Cantonese would be reduced to a regional status(Bauer, 1984), because Hong Kong Chinese prefer to identify themselves as Hong Kongers by speakingCantonese rather than identify themselves as Chinese by speaking Mandarin, although more and moreHong Kong Chinese would learn Mandarin for practical purposes, such as in technology and businessdomains.

As for the status of English, we agree on the term “value-added” given by Li (1999), who hasargued that English is closely connected with the speaker’s socioeconomic concerns because knowledgeof English highly correlates with one’s income and social prestige. Most of our informants have a highcommand of English, because all of them have received higher education. All of them agree that Englishis important for their professional development.

Our findings have also revealed that Mandarin is gaining importance and becoming more widelyused in Hong Kong. Comparing the language matrix given by Li (1999) (see Table 1) and the languagepatterns found in the current study (see Table 2), we can see that the major difference lies in the use ofMandarin, which is not included by Li but which frequently appears in our model. This might be due tothe homogeneity of Chinese nationality among the participants in the current study; however, it would notbe unreasonable to claim that Mandarin is gaining force in Hong Kong. More recently, Mandarin has beenadded in some public announcements in trains, metro trains and even in the library at City University.Kindergartens and primary schools in Hong Kong have also adopted Mandarin into their curriculum. Inall the secondary schools in Hong Kong, it is now compulsory to take up Mandarin for Form 1 and Form2 students, who are 14 to 15 years old. Hundreds of secondary schools have been stipulated as Chinese-



Medium-Instruction (CMI) schools, too. More and more people have thus realised the importance ofMandarin, which can also be seen in the increase of people who have enrolled in Mandarin courses. Withall these facts that Mandarin is gaining force, we believe that it is an inevitable development trend forMandarin to gain greater prominence in Hong Kong in the near future.

Conclusion

To conclude, through the depiction of the language patterns of the four informants within the socialcontext of Hong Kong from interviews and observations, we have tried to investigate the changingsociolinguistic situation in Hong Kong. We have predicted that Cantonese will remain as the linguafranca, that English will be of high prestige and that Mandarin will gain prominence in Hong Kong. It ispremature for us to assert that our findings are representative of the language use of the majority of HongKong people. A more accurate picture of the language patterns within the broad social context of HongKong requires a larger-scale survey and greater research in this area. Such research may, we hope, supportsome of our findings and test some of our hypotheses.

References

Bauer, R. (1984). The Hong Kong Cantonese Speech Community. Language Learning and Communica-tion, 3, 289-316.

Bacon-Shone, J., & Bolton, K. (1998). Charting multilingualism: Language censuses and language sur-veys in Hong Kong. In M. Pennington (Ed.), Language in Hong Kong at century’s end (pp. 43-90).Hong Kong: HKU Press.

Bolton, K., & Kwok, H. (1990). The dynamics of the Hong Kong accent: Social identity andsociolinguistic description. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 1, 147-172.

Li, C. S. (1999). The functions and status of English in Hong Kong: A post-1997 update. English World-Wide, 20, 67-110.

Luke, K. K., & Richards, J. C. (1982). English in Hong Kong: Functions and status. English World-Wide,3, 47-64.

So, D. (1989). Implementing mother-tongue education amidst societal transition from diglossia totriglossia in Hong Kong. Language and Education, 3, 29-44.



Appendix I

Background Information of the Informants

Name Christy Amy Carol Brian

Age 19 29 33 38

Gender Female Female Female Male

Nationality Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese

Birth place Macau China China Malaysia

Home language Cantonese Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin& Cantonese & English

Educational level BA candidate BA PhD candidate MA

Duration of stay inHong Kong About 13 years More than 3 years About 25 years More than

10 years

Background socio-economic status Working class Middle class Working class Working class

Language varietiesspoken Fluent Cantonese A little Cantonese Fluent Cantonese Fluent Cantonese

A little Mandarin Fairly fluent English Fluent English Fluent EnglishFluent Mandarin Fluent Mandarin Fluent Mandarin

Fairly fluentHakkaFairly fluentMalay

Language varietieswritten Fluent English Fairly fluent English Fluent English Fluent English

Fluent SWC Fluent SWC A little SWC Fluent SWCFairly fluentMalayA little GreekA little Hebrew



Appendix II

Questionnaire on bilingualism/multilingualism

-Demographic information• Name• Age range• Gender• Nationality• Home country• Life experience (how many places have you lived for a period of time?)• Length of time living in Hong Kong• Educational level

-Where did you receive your primary education? What is the medium ofinstruction?-Where did you receive your secondary education? What is the mediumof instruction?-Where did you receive your tertiary education? What is the medium ofinstruction?-What’s your highest education achievement? Major?

• Socio-economic background-Parents’ occupation-Parents’ educational level-Sister(s) or brother(s)’s occupation and educational level

-How many language varieties do you know (spoken/written)?

-What, do you think, are your relative proficiencies in these varieties?ExcellentGoodAverageBelow averagePoor

-In which contexts have you learned these varieties? (when, where)

-In which contexts do you use these varieties? (spoken/written, with whom, talk/write about what, mixing,language alternation)



この国で教育の監督にあたるのは文部省である。文部省は権限を行使するため様々な方法を用いて教育界を支配している。そのひとつが、行政指導の名のもとに行われるイデオロギーの取り締まりであり、予算配分を通じて行われる財政上の支配である。学生の学力低下と定員割れの問題によって、多くの教育機関は文部省の規制の枠から外れることを余儀無くされている。現在、学力低下問題と対になった文部省による教育支配の方法は、もしも改革が行われないならば、これからも語学教育へのしわ寄せという形で続けられるだろう。

The institutions of any industrialized society are organic and subject tochange when confronted by strong social forces. This is certainly true ofthe institution of education, and particularly so for Japan. Education inthis county was radically reformed in the early Meiji era and once againafter World War Two. It is once again on the verge of change as itstruggles with three pressing problems: centralized control under theguise of administrative guidance, financial sanctions to uphold academiccontrol, and the recent and sudden decrease in academic abilities ofincoming freshpersons. This paper will analyze the severity of theseproblems and their implications for language education.

Administrative Guidance: Theory and Practice.

Japan’s Ministry of Education is charged with manytasks. Its better known purpose is to mold

educational policies, control educationalinstitutions, and evaluate scientific

progress, but it also is concerned withthe promotion of moral

development, cultural activities,and religions. At the primaryand secondary educationallevels, there are frequentcomplaints about the lack ofleeway for opinions thatdigress from the Monbusholine. At the tertiary level,there is more room for free

speech but comparativelyless than in western

industrialized nations.How does the central

government manage to exert somuch control upon the

educational system?Fundamentally, it is done through

“shidou,” a term often translated as“guidance,” but which implicitly expresses

the lofty notion of “supervision,” as well as“instruction,” and “coaching.”

Administrative guidance is the most important term forunderstanding Japanese political philosophy. In Japan, the state serves asa “guide” for society. According to Abe, it is considered “the very core ofpostwar Japanese public administration”, and “. . . is often used to

Michael H. FoxHyogo College

Brian J. McVeighToyo Gakuen University

Shiozawa TadashiChubu University

Steve BrownAssumption Junior College

ThreeProblems

ConfrontingJapanese Higher

Education


characterize the advice or assistance the state provides to corporations, private persons, and publicorganizations to accomplish what is thought to be in the national interest”(1994:36).

Administrative guidance has no binding authority, and the many bureaucracies often have their ownrules and policies, some of which contradict formal laws. Though many argue that Japan’s postwarprosperity owes its success in no small measure to administrative guidance, others claim that its effectshave been exaggerated or misunderstood. Some even characterize it as a form of bureaucratic bullying.

Most political scientists insist the latter description is more accurate. To back this claim Shiono(1984) lists four injurious attributes of administrative guidance. The first concerns accountability: “it isnot clear who assumes the ultimate responsibility for such guidance.” There are no procedural rules orprovisions for hearings. Nor are there any rules setting standards or substantive limits. And because“administrative guidance does not have any legal effect, private persons and business enterprises cannotseek judicial remedy even if it is wrong.” Second, because administrative guidance lacks proceduralfairness, third parties may not know its contents. Third, “despite the fact that administrative guidance isnot based on statutory authority, it may work as if it were vested with regulatory power.” Finally, it fostersan environment of “over-dependence on the government and . . . excessive interference by thegovernment in the private sector” (212-13).

The Influence of Guidance upon Language Education

Japan’s political economy and technomeritocracy emphasize interlinkages between official guidance,moral education, and socialization (McVeigh 1998). Within schools, LeTendre notes that historically“There was no debate over whether students should be guided to a set of beliefs, only which beliefs toinculcate and how much autonomy the teacher should have in determining these beliefs” (1994:45, italicsin original). LeTendre discusses in detail the meaning of “guidance” within an educational setting:

(1) Teacher and learner study the same thing, i.e. there is a correct form or order tothe acquisition and interpretation of knowledge: one path, one set of discoveries.

(2) The learner, not knowing the path, is dependent on the teacher.(3) The teacher will model the correct interpretation or correct skills and the learner

will imitate these(4) To sustain the learner’s emotional balance, the teacher encourages an appreciation

of effort and sacrifice in the learner.

It is not difficult to see how such values ultimately stifle all spheres of education, particularlylanguage learning. The system does not allow students to question authority, and instead emphasizes“effort” and “sacrifice” in a way that precludes the possibility that joy or contentment may be gained fromschooling. As the system focuses much more on effort rather than substance, one wonders if students arereally challenged with useful information. This point is fortified when viewed from the content and designof exams. Furthermore, the system actively reinforces rote memorization as a key pedagogical strategy.

What does all this have to do with English teaching in Japan? It creates an atmosphere with theassumption that only officialdom knows what is best for students. Such an atmosphere indirectlydiscourages an active, spontaneous approach to the study of foreign languages among teachers andstudents. The system assumes that, in all endeavors, the learner is dependent on the master. Studentscannot learn on their own. Such an approach is not student or learner-centered enough and explains whyso many Japanese who do learn English do so outside the formal schooling system. As long as studentswait for officialdom to tell them what and, more importantly, “how” to study, it remains unlikely that anyimprovements in English teaching in Japan will happen in the near future.

Financial Controls

Whether public or private, universities and colleges are all subject to guidelines based on the relevantlaws. A key area of difference, though, between public and private is how funding is determined: the

Fox, et.al.: Monbukagakusho, Educational Control, and Language Education


annual budget is the essential starting point for all institutions. In the following sections, this process iselucidated in tabular form

How the Budget Works

All data from Monbusho (2000)

Table 1: National Universities and Colleges

Table continued over...



Examples of Special Support Grant:

1. Foreign Teaching Staff

No. of foreign staff Support Grant1 – 4 500,000 Yen5 – 9 1,000,00010 – 19 2,000,00020 – 29 3,000,00030 – 49 6,000,00050 + 9,000,000

2. Asian Language Education

No. of Staff teaching No. of students enrolled Asian Languages Support Grant in AL courses Support Grant 1 – 5 500,000 Yen 1 – 100 500,000 Yen6 – 10 1,000,000 101 – 300 1,000,00011 – 20 2,000,000 301 – 500 2,000,00021 – 30 3,000,000 501 – 1,000 3,000,00031 – 50 4,000,000 1,001 – 1,500 4,000,00051 + 5,000,000 1,501 – 2,000 5,000,000

2,001 + 6,000,000

___ = annually determined index. The index is affected by whether the departments concerned are under-graduate or postgraduate. In the case of faculty, the index is also affected by the type of research (i.e.experimental or non-experimental)(1) = audit category (see 2.1.2)

It is interesting to note how the funding process exerts control through the various types of grants.There is a clear financial inducement, for example, to have more foreign teaching staff (whether full- orpart-time). But a university which decides for sound pedagogical reasons that it wants to have its twentyweekly foreign language classes taught by four or five committed part-time faculty, coming in twice aweek, would lose out financially (to the tune of 1.5 million yen) to one which employs twenty differentstaff teaching just one class each. To take the example further, employing foreigners as part-time facultycould be financially more attractive than employing a small full time staff.



Table 2: Private University and College Funding

_ = annually determined index. Index affected by type of department. (Numbers set within bands.)* See note on Student Intake in Table 3 below

Table 3: Student Intake & Basic Support Grant

The actual number of stdents may fall above or below the OFFICIAL STUDENT INTAKE (gakusei teiin)within fixed limits.

EXCEEDING THE MAXIMUM WITHOUT ADEQUATE EXPLANATION, OR FALLING BELOWTHE MINIMUM = COMPLETE CUT OF SUPPORT GRANT

NB. Till 2000, calculated by faculty. From 2001, university/college calculated as a whole.



Control over the Establishment of New Institutions

Establishing a new institution is the time when Monbusho exerts greatest control over universities andcolleges. Before accreditation can be given, there is a series of detailed inspections (secchi shinsa)of thefollowing areas:

(Undertaken over the Year preceding proposed first intake. Final accreditation is approved – or rejected –at the end of December, three months before the proposed opening.)

Funding as a Source of Control

The use of funding as a method of controling colleges and universities has a deleterious effect onlanguage education. The Monbusho’s rationale is that low enrollment indicates academic stagnation andvaluelessness. But high quality language education does not take place in large auditoriums. On thecontrary, the smaller private schools with low teacher to student ratios have frequently offered asuperlative environment for language acquisition.These are the schools which may pass into oblivion inthe future.

Monbusho funding for private schools is much less specific than funding for national universities,but is also much more open to the ebb and flow of student numbers. Potential cuts in funding are not onlybased on a straight mathematical calculation, but can be radically slashed if numbers fall below 50% of,or climb above 1.5 times the official student intake (gakusei teiin), as can be seen in Table 3. Thereasoning is pedagogical: if your numbers are too low, then you are obviously not offering a programmewith merit; if too high, then you cannot really give each student the attention they deserve. The penaltiesfor failing to observe these rules are potentially severe – including the possibility of large cuts in funding(up to 50%), if the offending institution cannot explain itself. This is not just another unenforced rule, andpenalties are not uncommon.

Declining Academic Abilities: A Pressing Problem.

No university professor today could deny that the academic levels of college freshmen have beendecreasing year by year, and that this trend will probably continue for the next decade or so. The obviousreason for this decreased academic level is the decreasing population of 18-year-olds. In 1992 the numberof high school seniors was 2.05 million whereas in 2000 it was 1.51 million. In 2009 it will decrease to1.2 million (Nikkei Shinbun May 5, 2000). At this juncture the capacity for the number of freshmen atcolleges and universities throughout Japan will equal the number of the applicants. Consequently, collegeentrance examinations are getting easier every year, and high school students study far less than before.The Nikkei Shinbun (May 5, 2000) reported in a survey that 40.3 % of new college freshmen did notreally study much for entrance exams. In addition, the number of required entrance exam subjects havealso been reduced from four or three to two or even to one. Ironically, this has resulted with medicalstudents who have not taken biology in high school, engineering majors who have not had any physics,and English majors who did not take the English entrance exam.



A second reason behind the decline in academic abilities is the decreased number of teaching/learning hours at junior and senior high schools. Since the Monbusho introduced yutori no kyouiku -education free of pressure, in the 1978 Course of Study, the number of contact teaching hours has beenreduced. And with the introduction of the new Course of Study, another 30% of teaching items in eachsubject will be omitted from 2002. A survey taken in Tokyo in 1998 reports that 33.7% of high schoolstudents never study at home. Another survey by Vanesse Co. in 1999 shows that 32.0% of junior highschool students never study compared to 26.1% in 96. (Nikkei Shinbun, June 15, 2000)

Officially the Monbusho does not admit that the academic level of Japanese students at thesecondary and tertiary level is declining. However, they can not deny the fact that in 1998, 243 public andprivate universities (42%) offered some kind of remedial courses to their freshmen. (Kokusai 2000:20) Astudy group designated by the Monbusho koto kyouiku kaikaku kenkyuu kai (research group for highereducation reform) reported that 67.9% of college freshmen indicated that they had at least one coursewhich was beyond their comprehension (Nikkei Shinbun June 15, 2000).

Problems of Recruitment

Declining academic abilities have also hurt admissions. A number of higher institutions are alreadyhaving trouble recruiting freshmen. 28 % of private universities and 59 % of private junior colleges couldnot even make their quota for freshman admissions in 2000 (Nikkei Shinbun, Oct. 22, 2000). Thisphenomena has stimulated some drastic recruitment techniques: travel allowances to visiting high schoolteachers; gifts to prospective applicants who attend open house; a simple recommendation systemespecially designed for vocational school graduates; disclosure of essay test titles prior to the test date;and pre-entrance exam interviews and promises of acceptance even before the entrance exam seasoncommences.

With the introduction of the New Course of Study in 2002 (2003 for high schools), it is expectedthat the new crop of freshmen will even be academically worse off. Unfortunately, entrance exams nolonger function as a gatekeeper for higher education since most private and some public universities mustadmit inferior applicants because they cannot fill their prescribed number of seats. This is a two edgedsword: not only are the colleges losing tuition fees, but they also face the risk of loosing financial aidfrom the Monbusho. High school students know they do not have to study so hard to enter a universitywith the exception of really prestigious institutions. Teachers, naturally, deplore the increasing number ofunmotivated and unprepared college students. Thus, it seems we are trapped in a deplorable, viciouscircle.

Some Possible Solutions

It is for this reason that prestigious national universities, such as Tokyo University and NiigataUniversity, offer remedial courses. Tottori University (national university) started a program in whichhigh school teachers are invited to the university from the prefectural board of education to teach non-credit English, math, physics, chemistry and biology courses. (Kokusai 2000:22) Of course the Monbushoallots the budget for these programs. At Kyoto University professors started to visit students’ homesasking them to come to school more often. (Nikkei Shinbun, June 15, 2000) Some private universities,jointly with large private preparatory schools, started a program where the prep school teachers teachbasic courses to freshmen at their universities, and require that new entrants take pre-collegecorrespondence courses.

As language teachers, what can we do? There may not be much that we can do to change thesystem. We are faced with three possibilities. The first is to teach according to conscience regardless ofthe decreasing academic levels. The second is to do what seems most appropriate for the incoming classesyear by year. And the third is to act according to Monbusho pronouncements. Those who believe in astringent approach might take consolidation that we control grades and, ultimately, who passes the course.As long as students meet our requirements, we can willingly offer passing grades. Of one thing we can becertain: concerned language teachers will not lower the standard of teaching, even if others will.



Conclusions

The Monbusho controls schooling in many ways, particularly through administrative guidance.Its presentideologies hinder the strategies and autonomy necessary for true language acquisition. The Monbushoalso controls schools through various financial channels. An understanding of how these controls workcertainly leads educators to a position of greater strength. As the academic abilities of young peoplecontinue to decrease, the Monbusho, its colleges and universities, and the independent language educatorwill be increasingly challenged to find new solutions for the classroom.

References

Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (Monbusho). (1973). Gakushu Shidou Youryo [Thecourse of study]. Tokyo: Government Printing Office.

Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (Monbusho). (1998). Gakushu Shidou Youryo [Thecourse of study]. Tokyo: Gyosei Corporation.

Kokusai, M. (2000). Koukou to daigaku to no renkei ni tsuite (The coordination between high schools anduniversities at Tottori University ) Daigaku Nyushi Forum 23, 23-38.

Genjitu tono rakusa, ishiki kaikaku kyumu. (Gap is huge between reality and entrance exams, awarenessraising urgent). (2000 May 5). Nikkei Shinbun, p. 4.

Kyouju ga katei houmon. (Professors visit students' homes) (2000 June 15). Nikkei Shinbun, p. 3.

Chikazuku daigaku zennyuu jidai. (100% of applicants to be admitted to universities in the near future.)(2000 Oct. 22,). Nikkei Shinbun, p.4

Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (Monbusho). (2000). Daigaku secchi kijunhou. (Uni-versity Establishment Law). Tokyo: Gyosei Corporation.

Abe, H., Shindô, M., & Kawato, S. (1994). The government and politics of Japan. Tokyo: University ofTokyo Press.

LeTendre, G. (1994). Guiding Them on: Teaching, Hierarchy, and Social Organization in Japanese MiddleSchools. Journal of Japanese Studies 20(1):37-59.

McVeigh, B.J. (1998). The nature of the Japanese State: rationality and rituality. London: Routledge.

Shiono h. (1984). Administrative Guidance. In Public Administration in Japan, Tsuji Kiyoaki, ed. Tokyo:University of Tokyo Press 203-15.



This paper evaluates the rationale behind the call for the reform ofEnglish education in Japanese secondary schools and the ways in whichthis reform can be effectively realised through the action of teachers. Itprovides a case study of a private secondary school’s continuing effortsto implement a reformed English curriculum and describes the part inwhich the school’s English teachers have taken in that implementation.

この研究では主に中学校、高校の英語教育の改革について議論し、その本質的な部分は、教師の手によってなされることが最も望ましいと主張する。この主張は、ある私立の中高一貫教育の学校で実際に行われている英語教育のカリキュラム改革に基づくもので、どのように改善されてきたか、またその中でいかに教師が関わってきたかに焦点をあてる。

Introduction

In 1999, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture(Monbusho) issued new Foreign Language Curriculum Guidelines whichdescribed the study of foreign language as being “the study throughlanguage” (gaikokugo wo tsuujite, 1999) rather than “the understandingof language” (gaikokugo wo rikaishi, 1989). This change has importantimplications for the future of language education in Japan. It suggests amove towards using language as a means of communication — a meansto learning about the world and sharing experiences. This is the first realpositive move towards truly making language communicative inJapanese secondary schools. However, just changing the wording of apolicy document is not enough. True change must come from within the

system and be supported by all those involved:Monbusho, school administrations,

teachers, parents and students.Change such as this is most

effective if initiated by theteachers and supported by

their administration.

Rationale forCurriculum Reform

The word curriculumcomes from the Latincurrere, meaning torun. Marsh andStafford (1988:2) take

this one step furtherand describe the school

curriculum as “a race tobe run, a series of

obstacles or hurdles(subjects) to be passed.”

(Marsh & Stafford, 1988:2)In a narrow sense curriculum

can be defined simply as whichsubjects are to be passed. In other

words, the main preoccupation of a schoolcurriculum would be to convey knowledge arranged

Teacher Action:Changing theSystem from

Within

Susan Carbury Obirin University


into a well-defined course of subjects. However, in a more comprehensive sense, the curriculum can bedefined in a way that includes all learning experiences provided by a school with the aim to develop thestudent into a well-rounded individual. This broader definition goes beyond the simple conveyance ofknowledge to include the emotional, physical, social and intellectual development of the student.

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (Monbusho) seems to be leaningtowards the more comprehensive definition of curriculum as defined above. A very brief review of thegoals of the curriculum would seem to support this assertion. In the last thirty years several views ofeducation in the Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture, have beentaken into consideration. In 1971 the concepts of “life-long education” and “an education able to meet theneeds of individual development and individual aptitudes” was introduced. Twenty-two years later, in1993 the focus was on building a “culture-communicative society”. Finally, with regards to languageeducation, the 1999 guidelines were published suggesting that foreign language education should beachieved by “the study through language.”

It can thus be said that Monbusho, for the past thirty years, has been advocating curricula thatencourage the development of the individual, foster communication, and more recently, support theacquisition of foreign language skills as a means of learning and communicating in an internationalsociety. However, the reality is that education in Japan is still forged on dissemination of discreetknowledge and memorisation. The powerful social expectation of schools to prepare students for theentrance examination to high school and university determines what is taught in the classroom and moreimportantly how it is taught. This tends to overshadow any theories of curriculum that have surfaced overthe years, and as a result the process of curriculum reform in Japan has fossilised.

Therefore, the curriculum a school employs needs to take into consideration the many forces atwork in the education environment which ultimately effect curriculum reform and the ability toimplement it. (see Figure 1) Such forces include teachers and students, learning resources, and thecompetence of the administrators and teachers.

Figure 1: Forces Effecting School Curriculum

These can be further divided into both endogenous and exogenous factors. Endogenous factorsincorporate changes in school objectives; reorganisation resulting in new departments; and the internalpolitics of staff and administration. There is also the need to avoid stagnation and to create a stimulus toboth the curriculum and teachers with the objective to create a self-generated, self-sustaining curriculum.

Carbury: Teacher Action: Changing the System from Within


Schools are also faced with exogenous factors such as invalidity of material which does not reflect theexisting social reality and needs of students; cuts in financial assistance, fluctuation of studentpopulations, and a shift in paradigm from an industrial society emphasising the production of technocratsand technicians to a post-industrial society in which the management of information is paramount.

Thus, the debate over curriculum reform, particularly in the foreign languages, continues. For anykind of reform to be effectively obtained in Japanese secondary education, it is going to be necessary toreconcile all of the many opposing factors, arguments and forces which have over the past thirty yearsprevented any real kind of reform from taking place. Professor Watanabe from Sophia University, Tokyointroduces the concept of synergy in curriculum reform to mean the combination of two dialectics. In thissense the rationale for curriculum reform would take the form of a synergic collaboration between school,instructors, students, Monbusho and the society at large.

Teacher Action

A language curriculum which advocates communication, individuality and creativity, independence inlearning, and above all, language study as a process of acquiring skills, is a learner centred curriculum.The alternative, a subject centred curriculum “sees learning a language as essentially the mastering of abody of knowledge.” (Nunan, 1988:21) This is how foreign languages were prescribed in the pre-1999Foreign Language Curriculum Guidelines issued by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Science, Sports andCulture. In the learner centred curriculum, it is the teachers who are the principle agents of change andreform. This form of school-based planning and development is far more effective than government orhead office planning, as it is more able to take into consideration the views of all parties involved ineducation, including parents and students.

When curriculum reform is not school-based, there is the risk of teachers being threatened by thecurriculum. School-based reform allows teachers to view the curriculum not just as a set of prescriptivestatements telling them what they should be doing, but encourages their input as to what actually doeshappen. This allows for the realisation of the broader definition of curriculum which considers not just thepedagogy of language education but the combination of administrative, managerial and organisationalissues which effect continuity in a language program.

However, as agents of change, teachers need support from their colleagues, and their schooladministration. They need not only models and guidelines of curriculum, but also professionaldevelopment in methodology, and counseling and the necessary bilingual support. “If teachers are to bethe principal agents of curriculum development, they need to develop a range of skills which go beyondclassroom management and instruction. Curriculum development will therefore be largely a matter ofappropriate staff development.” (Nunan, 1988:171)

Four Obirin Junior and High Schools: A Case Study

InspirationIn 1997 the Obirin Gakuen Board of Directors (which controls the junior and senior high schools, juniorcollege and university) felt there was a need for a stronger, fresher English program in the high schools.Like many educational institutions in Japan, the economic reality had become such that Obirin needed tobecome more competitive in order to maintain their ranking as a good school for English education.Economic crisis inspired creativity. Indeed the Board also felt that the entire secondary curricula neededto become more global and internationalised, incorporating real intercultural input to the classrooms. TheEnglishlanguage curriculum seemed like the best place to initiate such radical change. Therefore, acurriculum program dubbed the EYE (Express Yourself in English) program was devised andimplementation was set for April 1999. The goal of the EYE program was, and still is, to encouragestudents to be expressive and fluent, and to use English as a means of communication.

This redefinition of the English curriculum was not a matter of creating a new fancy programcomplete with exciting content and brightly coloured texts, employing native English-speaking teachersand looking good on paper. Too many such programs have done that and not really achieved anything.This was about redefining and restructuring the whole education process; not only the content (in fact



much of what is taught already was fine) but in particular the methodology (including the approach andattitudes of the teachers). However, this did not mean changing Japanese teachers into Western styleteachers, but building upon the obvious teaching skills that these teachers already possessed andincorporating some of the better communicative techniques that work well in other countries towardsfostering a good creative, communicative learning environment. Communicative in this context does notjust refer to the students practising English conversation, but the idea that students need to work togetherand with the teacher in order to discover and learn things co-operatively as well as independently. Inshort, it was about a move towards a more learner-centred classroom environment.

ImplementationThe first step towards redeveloping the curriculum was to introduce the EYE (Express Yourself inEnglish) Program. The Obirin administration gave the English teaching staff a mere six months to adjustto the idea. However, they were not left entirely to their own devises. Support was provided; andinstrumental to this support was Principal Hicks and his belief that a move to a learner-centred curriculumis paramount to effective change. Hicks sees the primary role of teachers as facilitating students’development of self-discipline and responsibility. “Japanese schools and parents are controlling childrentoo much.” Children need to be “responsible for carrying out tasks and presenting their opinions.” (DailyYomiuri, Tokyo, April 27, 1998. p.3) Over the course of the next two years, Hicks’ support for thesechanges would include:

a) employment of additional native English speaking teachers (there are seven as ofApril, 2001) who are accredited as teachers in their own right, not ALTs;

b) maintaining class sizes (for English classes in particular) with a cap of 25 students;c) introducing and encouraging teacher development workshops;d) employment of a full-time English Curriculum Advisor; ande) approval for the reconstruction of the Junior High school building, complete with

multi-media classroom, to be completed August, 2001.

Despite this support, the first year saw little internal change as teachers struggled with the pressureof what they initially perceived to be a demand for them to change everything they knew about teaching.This was difficult for some of the older teachers who felt that their years of experience and teachingmethods would not be recognised. These teachers also strongly supported the traditional methods ofEnglish teaching as it prepared students for university entrance exams. A questionnaire which polled theopinions of all Obirin Junior and Senior High School English teachers before the start of the programmeillustrates the fears, apprehension and expectations they had with the EYE Program (see appendix).Although keen to provide students with more communicative English lessons in a learner-centredenvironment, many teachers felt they were not sufficiently equipped to do so. Others perceived theresponsibility of preparing students for university entrance exams as an unavoidable obstruction toimplementing the programme effectively.

One of the ways in which teachers were helped to overcome these fears was the active support bythe administration in teacher development. The first step was a series of workshops conducted by ObirinUniversity English lecturers. These workshops focussed on the areas in which teachers felt they neededthe most help:

• lesson and unit planning;• utilising the text activities in a communicative way;• classroom dynamics; and• learner-centred activities.

Most importantly though, was that these workshops provided a forum for teachers to discussmethodology with each other, and a dialogue between teachers began. For the first time Obirin English



teachers realised they were in possession of one of the most valuable educational resources — each other.Although two years since the implementation there is still resistance, one by one core teaching staff

have taken it upon themselves to continue the developmental process. This has led to a gradual rewrite ofthe English syllabus with the most dramatic changes planned to take place in April 2001 (the third year ofthe program). These changes are mainly in the form of the choice of texts, the role of the native speakerEnglish teachers; subject choices; and hours of instruction for each subject. Most importantly though isthe recognition by all concerned that university entrance exams are a fact of life for Japanese students andcannot be ignored in the English curriculum. As a result the new curriculum proposes a course of studywhich promotes communication and fluency in English production for the first 4 years (Junior 1-3 andSenior 1), then concentrates on the more traditional methods of preparing for entrance tests in the finaltwo years of senior high school (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Recommended Subjects – 2001

The issues of teacher development, however, are ongoing. In August 2000, two teachers were sentby the school administration to Australia to observe other language programmes, both ESL and JFL(Japanese as a Foreign Language). The teachers returned to Obirin inspired and full of ideas, some ofwhich have been incorporated into the subject changes illustrated in Table 2 above. In October 2001,Obirin Junior and Senior High Schools are planning to host a series of English Teaching ProfessionalDevelopment workshops which will be open to all junior and senior high school teachers in the district.Some of the presenters will be Obirin Junior and Senior High School teachers who hope to be able toshare their newfound knowledge and experience with other teachers, and keep the process an ongoingone.

Conclusion

The effort of Obirin Junior and Senior High school teachers is the result of cooperation between teachers— teachers working together, and teachers and administration working together. Teachers needexperience, support, but above all confidence in their roles as educators. This will result not just ineffective teaching but effective, realistic and appropriate change.

The undercurrent in the above is the need to transform students and teachers from consumers oflanguage to producers of language. Only then, in the words of Dr. Joseph Hicks, the principal of ObirinJunior and Senior High Schools in Machida, Tokyo will the “students learn to express their opinion and



persuade people with words” and he further believes that “the education system can be reformed onlywhen the Japanese fully recognise its problems.” It is the recognition of this problem that has brought a“new life into the curriculum.” (Daily Yomiuri, Tokyo, April 27, 1998. p.3)

Evaluation and implementation of changes is always a complex undertaking. However, the positiveapproach and attitude of some of the teachers and the recognition of their own needs as human beings,and the encouragement of students to express themselves and use English as a means of communication isa step in the right direction. Nevertheless, for changes to become self-generating and self-sustaining theymust go beyond the cosmetic and embrace the endogenous and exogenous factors, so the system can bechanged from within through teacher action.

The soil has been prepared, the seeds have been sown; a lot of nurturing lies ahead on the way toeffective changes for all concerned.

References and Recommended Reading

Brandt, R., (Ed.). (2000). Education in a new era. USA: ASCD.

Daily Yomiuri. (1998, April 27). page 3. “School principal instilling value of free speech”.

Gebhard, J. G. & Oprandy, R. (1999). Language teaching awareness: a guide to exploring beliefs andpractices. UK: Cambridge University Press.

Lawton, D. & Gordon, P. (1993). Dictionary of education. UK: Hodder & Stoughton.

Loveday, L. (1996). Language contact in Japan. UK: Oxford University Press.

Macaro, E. (1997). Target language, collaborative learning and autonomy. UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

Marsh, C. & Stafford, K. (1988). Curriculum practices and issues. Australia: McGraw-Hill.

Nunan, D. (1988). The learner-centred curriculum. UK: Cambridge University Press.

Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. New York:Longman.

Richards, J. C. & Rodgers, T. S. (1996). Approaches and methods in language teaching. UK: CambridgeUniversity Press.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture. (1971). Educational Standards in Japan 1971[White Paper]. Retrieved December 3, 2000 from the World Wide Web: wwwwp.monbu.go.jp/eky1971/

The Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture. (1989). Elementary and secondary education in achanging society. Japan Government Policy in Education, Science, Sports and Culture 1989. [WhitePaper]. Retrieved December 3, 2000 from the World Wide Web: wwwwp.monbu.go.jp/eky1989/

The Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture. (1993). Towards a culture-communicating soci-ety. Japan Government Policy in Education, Science, Sports and Culture 1993. [White Paper]. Re-trieved December 3, 2000 from the World Wide Web: wwwwp.monbu.go.jp/eky1993/

The Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture. (1999). Educational reform in progress. 1999Japan Government Policy in Education, Science, Sports and Culture. [White Paper]. Retrieved January


10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: wwwwp.monbu.go.jp/eky1999/

White, R. V. (1988). The ELT curriculum: design, innovation and management. UK: Blackwell Publish-ers.

Wright, T. (1987). Roles of teachers and learners. UK: Oxford University Press.


Appendix

Obirin Junior High School Teaching Questionnaire

Summary Of Answers

Question 1What was your initial reaction to the introduction of the new JHS curriculum? (i.e. Did you think it was agood idea? Did you look forward to starting it? Did you think it was possible to start it in April 1999?

• not a bad idea, needed more time• good chance to change our ways of teaching English• needed more time for preparation, should have learned how to teach

Question 2Did you find the detailed draft syllabus that Su drew up useful in any way? (i.e. Did it help you get anidea of possible goals and objectives to strive for in your classes?

• yes , but the problem is how to introduce communicative English to 2nd and 3rd

year students who are studying for entrance exams

Question 3What are the main differences between the syllabus you are teaching now and what was taught last year?

• no difference• trying to give students more time to use English in class

Question 4What are the main differences (if any) in the way you are teaching the classes now compared with lastyear?

• Not much change, still trying to get students to speak as much as possible.Biggest change is the increase in the number of classes, more time for funactivities and to go beyond the book

Question 5What were your biggest concerns/fears in teaching the new curriculum?

• how to teach for entrance exam and increase students communicative abilityat the same time

• my role in team teaching (Japanese teachers)• hard to get students to learn on their own accord

Question 6Do you still have any concerns/fears for the future of the curriculum? Are they the same ones as before ordifferent?

• Concerned with lack of time to prepare and plan• I want to have many activities where students use English but if I do I won’t

have time to cover things in the textbook• Concerns and fears how to teach communicative English

Question 7Now that the first semester is over, how do you feel? (i.e. That the curriculum is a success; that it stillneeds some work but will eventually go as planned; that nothing has changed at all since last year, etc.)

• Don’t have time to talk about first semester EYE Program with other teachers• Students need more activities in using English not just learn from textbooks• I think there is a lot of work to be done



Question 8What was the biggest obstacle that you had to overcome this first semester in teaching the newcurriculum?

• Need to get more skills in teaching communicative English• Not enough time to prepare• Need to talk more about lessons before going into the class• It seems that students have been so passive. They try to learn only what I

teach.

Question 9Do you think the workshops that Rocco and Su held have been beneficial? Why/Why not?

• Yes, because we don’t have enough teaching experience to teach communicativeEnglish

• Beneficial because students can be more active if adopt those methods• We have too many things we have to learn in high school. If I can teach

rationally, I’ll be able to teach your way of teaching.

Question 10What topics would you like to see covered in any future workshop?

• What is the role of Japanese teachers and native English speakers in teamteaching? How should we communicate with each other?

• How to communicate

Question 11Do you think it would be a good idea for teachers to regularly get together (i.e. once a month or onceevery two months) to share ideas and help each other? (as colleagues, not necessarily organised by Roccoand Su)

• Yes, we have already established some plans. We need to be united in teachingskills and methods

• We need to observe each other English classes and have time to examine thedetails.

March 1999



This paper introduces to the learners of German in Japan an officiallyrecognized test which gives new vistas and opportunities. Especially forstudents who take German courses aiming at providing active languageskills, the availability of an officially recognized test is important formeasuring their own communication ability. The OESD, the Austrianlanguage diploma, consists of two parts, a written examination (readingcomprehension, listening comprehension and composition) and an oralexamination. There are four levels: beginner, basic elementary,intermediate, and German for trade. It is especially the first grade thatsuits most Japanese students. The test contents and design can alsoinform German education in Japan.

言語の運用能力育成を目標とするドイツ語授業を受講する学生にとって、自身のコミュニケーション能力を測定する検定試験の存在は意義深い。「オーストリア政府公認ドイツ語能力検定試験」（Ö S D ）は筆記試験（読解、聴解、作文）と口述試験の二部構成をとり、「初級、基礎統一試験、中級、商業ドイツ語」という4 つのレベルに分かれている。とりわけ「初級」は、日本の多くの学生にとって受験可能なレベルで、その試験内容・試験形式は日本のドイツ語教育にさまざまな示唆を与えている。本論はドイツ語学習者に新たな方向性、可能性を与えるこの検定試験を紹介する。

オーストリア政府公認ドイツ語能力検定試験の概要とそのドイツ語授業に与

える示唆外国語に対する学生の取り組みは

社会の動向と密接に関連し、時代とともに変化している。最近の

傾向としては、資格・検定試験に対する関心が学生の間に高まってきていることが挙げられよう。ドイツ語の分野では1 9 9 2 年から毎年実施されている日本のドイツ語技能検定試験、いわゆる「独検」の受験者は、3 級・4 級に限ってみ

ても1999年度は年間1万人を超えている。こうした日

本のドイツ語学習者に新たな可能性を与えるのが、

「オーストリア政府公認ドイツ語能力検定試験」（ �

terreichisches SprachdiplomDeutsch、以下⑳Dと略す）であ

る。本論ではこの検定試験を取り上げ、多くの日本人学生が受験可能な「初

級」に焦点を当て、その試験内容・試験形式を紹介しながら、合わせて⑳D が日本のドイツ語教育に与

える示唆についても述べることとする。

森田昌美流通科学大学非常勤講師

オーストリア政府公認ドイツ語能力検定試験の概要とそのドイツ語

授業に与える示唆


1. オーストリア政府公認ドイツ語能力検定試験（ÖSD ）の概要Ö S D はオーストリア共和国の3 省、すなわち外務省、科学交通省、文部省の発案により生まれた。ウイーンに本部を置く試験センターを中心に、公式には1995年から毎年2回ずつ実施されている。現在、世界112箇所で Ö S Dは受験可能で、それらの受験地の８割をオーストリア国外が占めている。この検定試験はドイツ語を必要とする日常生活、就職、高等教育機関への入学などドイツ語能力が問われる際に、国際的に通用する能力証明とされている。日本では1998年以来、東京、大阪、京都、北海道にÖ S D の各事務局が次々に開設されてきたが、現時点では受験者はまだ毎回二桁に過ぎない。現在、練習問題は「聴解」を含めてインターネットで公開されている（http://www.osd.at）。　　

筆者は1998年10月に試験官資格を取得したのち、1999年から１月と６月の年2回、大阪会場で試験官を務めている。2000年10月22日、神戸で行なわれた2回目の試験官講習会には、各地から2 8 名の参加者があった。今回、これら参加者のうちネーティヴ・スピーカーのドイツ語教師5名、日本人ドイツ語教師13名を対象にEメールでアンケート調査を行い、16名から回答を得た。質問は次の3点である。

1. 講習会に参加されていかがでしたか。2. 試験問題、試験形式についてはどのようなご意見をお持ちですか。3. ご担当クラスの学生に受験をお勧めになりますか。

アンケートの結果、第1問、第２問については回答者16名全員が積極的な評価を与えている。また第３の質問についても、「残念ながら自分の学生(1年生)は初級のレベルに達していない」という回答が2 名あっただけで、ほぼ全員が「⑳D を学生に勧めたい」と答えている。したがって、今後この検定試験が日本各地に広がる可能性は十分あるといえよう。

さて、Ö S D の特徴はドイツ語の「多極性」( p l u r i z e n t r i s c h ) と「実際の状況」(authentisch)に注目した点にある。従来ともすればドイツの言語事情のみを考慮したドイツ語学習の視点をオーストリア、スイスにも拡大させるため、これらドイツ語圏主要３カ国の標準ドイツ語が試験の対象とされ、試験問題もこれら3 カ国で実際に用いられているテキストが使われている。レベルとしては4つの段階に分かれている。「初級」（Grundstufe）は欧州評議会によって設定された基準に合わせて、日常生活および仕事の場面で基本的な意思疎通のはかれるドイツ語能力が問われる。その上の「基礎統一試験」（Zertifikat Deutsch）は、日本でも2000年6月からゲーテ・インスティトゥートの「基礎統一試験」と統合されて、世界的に認められる試験となった。さらに「中級」(Mittelstufe)はゲーテ・インスティテゥートの「中級統一試験」（Zentrale Mittelstufenpr歿ung）のレベルにほぼ等しく、オーストリア国内にある大学入学資格のための語学能力証明として認められている。「商業ドイツ語」(Wirtschaftsdeutsch)が上級レベルに位置しているのも⑳Dの特色の一つで、試験内容を経済分野に絞ってより高度なドイツ語能力が問われている。

2. ÖSD「初級」の試験内容と試験形式－読解と聴解－

本論では、日本人学生にとって受験可能なレベルと考えられるÖ S D の「初級」に限定して、その試験内容・試験形式を紹介する。試験は筆記試験と口述試験から構成されており、筆記試験の結果がたとえ合格点に達していなくとも、口述試験の受験が可能である。また結果として、いずれか一方の試験にのみ合格した場合でも部分合格証が与えられ、一年以内であれば不合格であった部分のみの再受験もできる。これはÖ S D 全レベルに共通する特徴である。また「初級」においては、課題の内容をドイツ語でも日本語でも試験官に質問でき、読解、聴解、作文、口述それぞれの試験開始前に必ず質問時間が設けられている。ただし、辞書の使用は「筆記」、「口述」両方の試験とも認められていない。

次にÖSD「初級」の各技能別の内容・形式の紹介に移る。練習問題を実際にドイツ語授業に導入した際の具体例も含め、「読む、聴く、書く、話す」の順に述べたい。まず「読解」であるが、試験問題としては新聞、雑誌、ガイドブック、パンフレット等、実際にドイツ、オーストリア、スイスで発行されている印刷物から出題され、その出典箇所が試験問題に明記され

Morita: Introducing OESD


ている。「読解」は3 0 分で、第１問は順不同になったテキストの文の並べ替え、第２問は複数の独立した短文テキストを読んで、あらかじめ与えられた選択肢の中から適当な見出し語を選ぶというものである。

これらの練習問題を授業で扱う場合、答え合わせで終わってしまっては全く意味がない。授業では学生が各自問題を解いたあとで、クラス全員で読解の過程を振り返る方法が効果的である。第1 問は文字の大きさや文字の種類、書き出しと結び、主文と副文の見分け方、句読法などふだん何気なく見過ごしてしまう文の外観の観察からはじめ、キーワードあるいはキーセンテンスに至るまで学生に黒板に箇条書きにさせる。そのあと書き出しや結び、本論といったように各文をグループ分けしながら、全体のテキストの展開を推測する。

それに対して、第2 問は見出し語全体の中から短文テキストそれぞれと関連のありそうな見出し語2 つずつを選び出すことから始める。そのあと読解の過程を振り返り、最終的に見出し語を一つに絞る方法が適している。その際、学生に「英語と共通する語彙、固有名詞、地名、数字などのデータ、頻繁に出てくることば」といったような点に注目させ、複数の学生に同時進行でキーワードを黒板に書かせていく。学生はこの過程で、他の学生の挙げる単語も参考にしながら、文法訳読法では経験しにくいテキストの「大意を掴む」作業をゆっくり追体験していくのである。

それに対して「聴解」では、大筋の内容はすでに問題用紙に記載されている。「聴き取り」問題は15分から20分くらいで、テキストのテーマ、場面･状況はすでに課題の部分で説明されている。受験者が課題について不明な点があれば、試験官に日本語で質問できる。第１問はたいてい実際のラジオ放送を素材として、２回ないし３回テープを流し、複数の選択肢から内容に合った答えを選び出す。その際、同一の放送が繰り返されるのではなく、受験者は内容・話題は同じであるが、話者や表現が異なるテキストを聞くことになる。

第２問はたいてい留守番電話による案内を聴き取る作業で、同じテープが２度ないし３度繰り返される。ドイツ、オーストリア、スイスいずれかの標準語を聴きながら、日時や電話番号などの数字や固有名前などを書き取る。第３問は街頭のインタビューなど複数の人物が同じテーマについて質問を受け、おのおのの意見や感想等を短く述べるもので、これは一回きりの聴き取りとなる。マークシート方式であらかじめ選択肢が与えられており、内容に合っているものに印を付けていく。

ÖSDの聴き取りはテキストの情報を「選択的に」聴く能力が試されている。授業で練習問題を使用する場合は、聴き取りのあとトランスクリプトを利用するとよい。聴き取りが苦手な学生の多くは、たとえ文字テキストを与えられてもなかなか正解にたどりつかない。その場合は重要な単語、語句を抜き出すように指示すると、学生は自分自身で聴解の過程をたどることになる。この時点で学生は、「選択的な聴解」と言っても、単語レベルでの聴き取りでは不十分であり、句ないし文レベルでの理解が必要であることに気が付き始める。否定語を聞き漏らしていたり、言い換えがわからなかったり、テキストに出てくる単語の順番が課題の順番と必ずしも一致していないなど、学生は自身の聴解を阻んでいるさまざまな原因を意識するようになる。この認識を基礎として、あとは聴き取りの練習回数を増やしていく。以上、⑳D の「読解」と「聴解」の分野では、練習問題を通して読む、聴く際の理解の過程を意識化することが最も重要であるといえよう。

3. ÖSD「初級」の試験内容と試験形式､評価方法－作文と口述試験－「作文」、「口述」の分野は、試験内容・試験形式のみならず、その評価方法も示唆に富

んでいる。先に触れたアンケート調査でも、回答者1 6 名のうち1 1 名のドイツ語教師が⑳D の評価方法について触れており、その採点基準を支持している。まず「作文」では、友人に宛て手紙を書くという形式が多く出題される。テーマとしては、最近の休暇の報告、あるいは過去１年間の生活を知らせるといった課題が出され、与えられたメモやカレンダーをもとに8 0 語から100語程度の長さの手紙を30分以内で完成させる。実際の検定試験では、試験官が二人チームを組んで以下の６つのポイントについて採点をすることになっている。

１．テキストの長さは80語以上あるか２．課題、つまりメモの事項がすべて作文のなかで扱われているか



３．コミュニケーションをはかるという点から、たとえば宛名の書き方、呼びかけ、手紙の書式、言葉使いなど適当かどうか

４．単文の羅列ではなく、テキストの組み立てが有機的で論理的に展開しているか５．語彙について、単語の選択が合っているかどうか６．人称変化や格変化、語順など文法的な間違いや綴りの誤りはどの程度あるか

日本の大学では学生の作文を採点する場合、ともすれば文法上の間違いや綴りの誤りにばかり気をとられ、学生の文章の構成能力やコミュニケーション能力を評価する明確な基準が確立していない。こうした現状のなかで、Ö S D の評価基準は教師のみならず学生にも非常に参考になる。筆者は学生が提出した作文を添削する際、訂正箇所にチェックを付け、間違いの種類、たとえばスペルミスか文法規則の誤り、単語の選択が不適当かなどを記すだけで正解を書き入れず、学生に作文を返却して再び同じ課題で提出させる方法を採っている。また、文の構成やスタイルについてもコメントを加えている。これは一見遠回りに見えるが、この方法によって学生は自分自身の書いた文章をもう一度自分で考え直すことになり、彼らの作文能力の向上につながる。

次に口述試験であるが、ÖSDの「初級」では各受験者に対して10分の準備時間と10分前後の試験時間が与えられている。口述試験の試験官は必ず２人一組で試験に臨むことになっている。テーマは、さまざまな行事やプログラムの紹介、スポーツや文化的な催しなど多種多様であるが、先の「作文」と同様に私的な交際範囲内でのコミュニケーションに限られている。会話の間、一方の試験官は以下の４つの評価基準にそって採点を行い、試験終了後、会話のパートナーとなった試験官と採点結果について協議して、点数を出す。

1. 内容ならびにコミュニケーションの点で適当かどうか、課題がきちんと満たされ、また相手の話を聴き、自分が話すという形で意思疎通が行われたか

2. 表現や語彙が不適当な箇所はなかったか3. 理解を妨げるような発音やイントネーションの誤りはなかったか、意味が不明

で試験官が聞きなおしたり、受験者が長く沈黙したりしなかったか4. 形態上の問題で、文法的な間違いはなかったか

この評価基準も、口頭試験を行うドイツ語教師にとって非常に参考になる。口述試験の練習問題を使って学生と練習した場合、注意を促すのは以下の三点である。第一点は課題の切り出し方で、この会話への導入は受験者が行うことになっている。学生と模擬練習をした場合、お互いに挨拶したあと彼らは即座に本題に入ってしまうことが多々見られる。まず相手に時間の都合や興味の有無を尋ねるなど、会話への導入方法を学ぶことが肝心である。

第二点も会話の内容よりむしろ、会話における発言の交替を行うタイミングの取り方を身に付ける練習が必要である。日本人の学生は緊張すると準備した内容を一方的に話しつづけ、会話の相手から質問や別の提案があっても、なかなか対応できないことが多い。会話では間合いをとること、相手の目をしっかり見て話し、相手のことばを待つこと、相手の言ったことがわからなければ聞き返すこと、自分の話した意図が伝わっていないようならば、もう一度説明し直すことが大切である。こういった基本的な会話の訓練は日常的なコミュニケーションの場でも役立つであろう。

第三点は10分間の準備時間におけるメモの取り方である。どのような順番で自分の意図を伝えるか、前もって会話の枠組みを作る練習が必要である。もちろん、いま挙げた一般的な注意点と共に、模擬練習ではテープやM D に会話を録音して、本来のテーマである課題について扱う際の問題点を検討することが重要なことは言うまでもない。

最後に、日本の外国語教育にとって中心テーマの一つとなる「文法」の問題について触れたい。Ö S D の場合、「読解」と「聴解」に必要な文法事項は、「作文」と「口述」のそれよりはるかに広範囲である。読解や聞き取りのテキストには時制としては、主に現在・過去・現在完了形が使われ、構文としては、副文はもちろんのこと受動態、関係文、接続法も入ってくる。一方、「作文」では現在完了形を用いた私的な手紙文が多く、「口述」では一部現在完了形が入っても、会話の大部分は現在形で十分である。



つまりÖSD初級の段階では、初級文法を扱った日本の教科書に出てくる文法事項すべてにわたって熟達する必要はないといえよう。むずかしい文法事項については自分で書いたり、話したりすることはまだできなくてもよく、むしろ現在形と現在完了形が確実に使えることが要求されている。それに対して、「読解」は大意をとらえ、「聴解」は選択的に聴き取る範囲内で、レベルの高い文法事項が出てくる。

こうした使い分けは、日本のドイツ語教育にとってもきわめて示唆的である。文法シラバスにそって編集された教科書に依存するあまり、各文法事項を１課ずつ均等に時間をかけて扱うことがドイツ語学習にとって果たして効果的どうかは大いに疑問である。たとえば、話法の助動詞や現在完了形、前置詞の用法は繰り返し扱い、回を重ねるごとに段階的に練習時間を増やすべきであろう。初級文法の段階で「知っている」ことと「使える」ことに差があるのは当然で、その隙間を一気に埋めようとするのは無理があることを、学習者も教師も認めるほうが、かえって学習成果は大きいのではないだろうか。以上のように⑳D は日本のドイツ語教育にさまざまな示唆を与え、また問題を提起している。今後も日本のドイツ語教育の改革に、⑳D の示す方向性がますます重要となることであろう。

参考文献

Die ÖSD-Prüfungszentrale(1997). Übungsmaterialien zum Österreichischen Sprachdiplom Deutsch.Grundstufe 1, Wien.

Glaboniat, M. (1998). Kommunikatives Testen im Bereich Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Eine Untersuchungam Beispiel des Österreichischen Sprachdiploms Deutsch, Innsbruck - Wien.

Heyd, G. (1997). Aufbauwissen für den Fremdsprachenunterricht (DaF). Ein Arbeitsbuch, Tübingen.

Huneke, H.-W., & Steinig, W., (1997). Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Eine Einführung, Berlin.

Muhr, R. (2000). Österreichisches Sprachdiplom Deutsch. Lernzielkataloge,Wien.

Storch, G. (1999). Deutsch als FremdspracheÅ|Eine Didaktik, München.



A special feature of the JALT 2000 conference in Shizuoka was the holdingof a first-ever “JALT Embassy Colloquium“. This featured a high-rankingpanel of experienced diplomats from two foreign embassies in Tokyo - Mr.Jean-Noel Juttet (from the Embassy of France) and Mr. Georg Schmidt (fromthe Embassy of Germany). These two diplomats, representing two majorworld languages, nations and cultures, took time from their busy schedulesto come to Shizuoka to share with JALT members and conference goerstheir views on the challenges, problems and issues of modern languageteaching in Japan.The colloquium was co-sponsored by JALT’s „Global Issues in LanguageEducation“ and „Other Language Educators“ SIGs. In addition to thefeatured embassy speakers, the panel also comprised Kip Cates(Moderator, Global Issues SIG Chair), Mr. Olivier Urbain (French-English translator; commentator) and Rudolph Reinelt (commentator,OLE SIG Chair). The colloquium began with the moderator introducingthe panel and the topic of the session: „Foreign Language Teaching in the21st Century“. Mr. Juttet (Embassy of France) gave his talk in French(translated into English by Mr. Urbain), followed by Mr. Schmidt(Embassy of Germany). The session concluded with comments from Mr.Urbain and Mr. Reinelt. The two featured embassy speakers discussedtheir thoughts on the teaching of modern languages in Japan from theinternational perspective of their particular languages, cultures andcountries - France and Germany. In their talks, they outlined their ideas

about the foreign language knowledge, skills and attitudes requiredby young Japanese for the multicultural world of the

21st century. The session gave participants thechance to hear official views from

culturally different perspectives by twointernational diplomats on the topic of

modern language teaching in Japan.As organizers of the session, we

would like to thank JALT forsupporting our efforts toarrange this colloquium and tostress our belief that this typeof official „embassy session“makes a strong symbolicstatement about JALT’sinternational status, its

global reach and itsmulticultural/multilingual

work as we enter the newcentury.

Kip CatesRudolf Reinelt

静岡市で開催されたJALT2000年大会の特色は、JALT史上初めて外交官が参加し

たコロキウムが実施されたことである。在東京のフランス大使館からジャン＝ノエル・ジュテ氏、同

じくドイツ大使館からゲオルク・シュミット氏という経験豊か

Jean-Noel JuttetLinguistic Attache, CulturalService; Embassy of France

Georg SchmidtCulture and Science Division;

Embassy of GermanyRudolph Reinelt

German Instructor, EhimeUniversity; Coordinator,

Other Language Educators(OLE)

Olivier UrbainSoka University, Tokyo; OLEFrench Network Coordinator

Kip A. Cates(Moderator)

English Instructor, TottoriUniversity; Global Issues

Special Interest GroupCoordinator

ForeignLanguageTeachingin the 21st

Century


な高位の外交官を迎えてパネル討論が行われた。これら世界的に重要な二つの言語、国民、文化を代表する二人の外交官は激務の合間にわざわざ静岡まで足を運んで、日本における現代の外国語教育の課題と諸問題を参加者と共に論議した。　

コロキウムはJALTの"Global Issues in　Language Education" 及び "Other Language Educators" SIGs　が後援した。上記の外交官の外に Kip Cates氏 (Moderator, Global Issues SIG Chair), Olivier Urbain氏(French-English translator; commentator)そして Rudolph Reinelt氏(commentator, OLE SIG　Chair)らが論議に参加した。パネルは司会者がパネルの各参加者を紹介し、分科会のテーマ「２１世紀における外国語教育」を導入して始まった。これに引き続きジュテ氏とシュミット氏が発言を行った。これにウルバイン氏とライネルト氏がコメントを行って会を締めくくった。　

両外交官は各々の言語、文化、国家に関する国際的視点から日本における現代の外国語教育について意見を表明した。両者はその中で、２１世紀の多文化の世界で日本の青年達が必要とする外国言語の知識、技能、態度の概略を提示した。会の参加者には、日本の現代の外国語教育に関して文化的に異なる視点から両外交官の公的　見解を聞く機会が提供された。　分科会の組織担当者として、我々の努力に対するJALTの援助に感謝する。我々がこのコロキウムを通じて示したかったのは、こういった外交官コロキウムによって、新世紀を迎えるに当たり、JALTの国際的な地位、その世界的な影響範囲、多文化・多言語の課題を象徴的に強調することが出来るということである。

Quelle place pour les langues autres que l’anglais?Jean-Noël Juttetattaché de coopérationService culturel, ambassade de France au Japon

Comme on le sait, les langues sont mortelles, ainsi que les cultures dont elles sont l’expression. Aucunedes langues parlées il y a deux mille ans n’est aujourd’hui vivante et la variété de celte que parlait alorsmes ancêtres a cédé devant plus forte que lui. Louis-Jean Calvet, professeur de linguistique à l’universitéd’Aix-en-Provence, prédit que, au cours du siècle que nous venons d’entamer, sur les 6 700 languesrépertoriées aujourd’hui à la surface du globe, plus de la moitié vont disparaître.

Si je rappelle d’emblée cette évidence, c’est pour deux raisons. La première, c’est que nous ne noustrouvons pas devant un fait nouveau et qu’il est vain de se scandaliser, mais opportun de ne pas l’oublier ;la seconde, c’est que, connaissant les risques qui pèsent sur les langues, il est de notre responsabilité (decelle des États, des communautés culturelles et linguistiques) de les défendre en formulant des politiqueslinguistiques et en les mettant en œuvre. Et ceci est d’autant plus urgent que, la mondialisation aidant, lapression qui s’exerce sur les langues est d’autant plus forte et les évolutions plus rapides.

Aujourd’hui, dans le rapport de forces entre les langues, nous assistons à un double mouvement,apparemment contradictoire : d’un côté une tendance à l’uniformisation, conséquence de la «mondialisation » en marche, dont l’un des vecteurs serait l’internet, et qui fait le lit de l’anglo-américain,déjà tout puissant, devenu - tout le monde en convient - la lingua franca universelle ; de l’autre, unetendance à la promotion des langues régionales et minoritaires, qui fait écho à la désastreuse montée desnationalismes ethniques : la Communauté européenne, par exemple, s’est récemment dotée d’une «Charte des langues régionales et minoritaires », qui donne par exemple aux Corses le droit de scolariserleurs enfants en corse et d’effectuer toutes les démarches administratives dans leur langue. L’antinomien’est qu’apparente, car la seconde tendance procède vraisemblablement, au moins en partie, d’uneréaction contre la première.

Comme on le voit, ce sont les langues intermédiaires, souvent de grande diffusion internationale (lefrançais, l’espagnol ou l’allemand) qui sont les laissées pour compte de cette dynamique. Avec d’ailleursla complicité des locuteurs de ces langues. Pour m’en tenir au français, je constate avec chagrin lapropension de mes concitoyens à utiliser systématiquement l’anglais dès lors qu’ils se trouvent àl’étranger quand bien même ils se trouvent face à des interlocuteurs qui, eux, parlent français ; je voudraisstigmatiser aussi l’idée reçue selon laquelle toute recherche doive être publiée en anglais : n’est-ce pasaccepter d’imposer à sa pensée les limites (parfois vite atteintes) de ses capacités linguistiques en anglais,travers qu’éviterait le recours à la traduction (de niveau professionnel, j’entends) ? Et que dire du choixfait par certaines banques françaises de communiquer, dans leur réseau international, uniquement enanglais ? Contre ces attitudes, révélatrices d’un complexe face à plus puissant que soi, dont on tente de

Cates et.al.: Foreign Language Education in the 21st Century


partager la puissance en le singeant, il n’est d’autre remède que le rire et le ridicule.Mais le remède n’agit que lentement et il se heurte à de solides résistances notamment dans des

milieux aussi influents que ceux des affaires et des médias, et les conséquences de ces attitudes sontlourdement préjudiciables aux autres langues. Il me suffira, à titre d’exemple, de rapporter le propos de telprofesseur japonais de français : « Chaque fois, dit-il, que M. Carlos Ghosn (aujourd’hui à la tête del’entreprise Nissan), s’exprime publiquement en anglais, c’est une classe de français qu’on ferme. Car,ajoute-t-il, pourquoi nous Japonais apprendrait-on le français si les Français s’expriment en anglais ? »

Il nous faut ici écarter une idée fausse qui inspire une critique qui nous est souvent faite dès lors quenous, Français, entreprenons de défendre la langue française et la Francophonie : à savoir que nousmènerions un combat contre l’anglais, ou que nous ne nous consolerions pas de voir le français reléguéloin derrière l’anglais sur la scène internationale. Ce sont aujourd’hui de tout autres considérations quiinspirent et nos conceptions et la politique linguistique de la France.

Que l’anglais puisse ou même doive être appris de tous est une idée que plus personne ne rejette :l’anglais fait désormais partie de ces connaissances de base que tout citoyen du monde doit avoir, aumême titre que, disons, l’arithmétique. Mais ce qui serait inacceptable, c’est que l’anglais seul doive oupuisse être enseigné.

En effet, nous considérons que les langues et les cultures sont des richesses, qu’il faut protéger,cultiver, partager. L’uniformité est le danger, la diversité le salut : qui, en toute conscience, voudrait unmonde qui soit tout entier une banlieue d’une hyper-puissance unique ? Les patrimoines culturels sontcomplètement déterminés par les langues dans lesquels ils sont nés : d’où la nécessité de les soustraireaux seules lois du profit qui ne laisseraient subsister que ceux qui ont une forte valeur commerciale. Et leslangues ont ceci d’original et de merveilleux, que, contrairement aux autres biens, plus ils sont partagés,plus ils acquièrent de valeur et de pouvoir.

Mais bien davantage, il faut être conscient du fait qu’on ne crée pas de la même façon, on ne créepas les mêmes choses selon qu’on est français, russe ou japonais. Et cela est vrai même dans desdomaines à priori aussi imperméables aux influences culturelles que la mathématique. À ne parler qu’uneseule et même langue, le monde perdrait non seulement en exotisme, mais surtout en capacitéd’invention, de réponse originale aux défis posés.

Il convient, dans cet esprit, de donner aux grandes langues de communication leur place dans leséchanges internationaux. De ce point de vue, le français n’est plus la langue d’un pouvoir, mais d’uncontre-pouvoir, qui entend mener le combat en faveur de la diversité, c’est-à-dire d’elle-même et desautres langues. Cela signifie, par exemple, que les Japonais doivent promouvoir plus activement leurlangue sur la scène internationale - ce qui est la réponse à la question récurrente qu’on se pose ici desavoir si l’anglais ne devrait pas être promu au rang de seconde langue nationale. Si cette question estpériodiquement posée, c’est chaque fois par allusion aux difficultés prétendues qu’auraient les Japonaisdans leurs contacts avec les étrangers. Or, si difficultés il y a, c’est peut-être bien parce que les Japonaismaîtrisent mal l’anglais (mais, à vrai dire, je n’en sais rien et je mesure, en tenant ces propos, tout cequ’ils comportent d’imprudent : qui sont en effet « les Japonais », qu’est-ce « maîtriser l’anglais » ?),mais c’est surtout et avant tout parce que le reste du monde ne parle pas japonais, ou trop peu.

Dans ce combat en faveur de la diversité linguistique, des batailles ont déjà été gagnées : la France -et l’Europe - ont opté délibérément pour le plurilinguisme en introduisant, dans l’enseignementsecondaire, une deuxième langue étrangère sous forme d’option obligatoire, parfois une troisième ; engénéralisant, en France, l’apprentissage d’une langue vivante dès l’âge de 8 ans (CM1), lancé depuisplusieurs années à titre expérimental ; en favorisant la mobilité des étudiants en Europe (tout étudiant doitpouvoir effectuer un séjour dans une ou plusieurs universités d’un autre pays européen - bourses lingua,Leonardo, Socrates). Enfin, pour clore cet inventaire non exhaustif, ajoutons que la Communautéeuropéenne a choisi de faire de 2001 l’année de la diversité des langues, qui donnera occasion à desmanifestations et colloques sur ce thème ici même au Japon.

Sur le marché des langues, le français dispose d’atouts non négligeables : la Francophonie regroupe181 millions de locuteurs sur les cinq continents, le français est appris par 82 millions d’apprenants par lemonde, il est une des langues de travail des organisations internationales (ONU), une des langues



majeures de l’Europe, la première langue officielle des Jeux olympiques, celle de la FIFA, elle reste undes principaux vecteurs des échanges internationaux, représente un accès à un patrimoine culturel etscientifique de première importance dans le monde, etc. (Il serait encore possible de mettre beaucoup dechoses dans cet « etc. », mais poursuivre me ferait passer pour immodeste).

Si apprendre une langue étrangère, c’est se donner les moyens de communiquer avec les locuteursde cette langue, de découvrir une autre culture et d’apprendre la relativité, c’est aussi partir à ladécouverte de sa propre langue, de sa propre culture, c’est exercer son esprit critique, son jugement, sortirde soi pour mieux se voir. Il n’est pas de discipline scolaire aussi formatrice que les langues vivante.

Quant aux outils modernes de communication, c’est, je pense, à tort qu’on voit en eux desinstruments au service de l’expansion hégémonique de la langue dominante aujourd’hui. L’internet est unoutil valise, atomisé, qui n’est pas déterminé linguistiquement ni culturellement : il accueille toutes leslangues, et si la part de l’anglais y est majoritaire (entre 75% et 85% selon les estimations), elle est,proportionnellement, en baisse régulière. De plus, on voit de plus en plus apparaître de sites bilingues ouplurilingues, signe que les langues autres que l’anglais résistent et réclament leur place. On voit leschaînes internationales de télévision comme CNN ou la BBC se « localiser », signe que le mouvementvers la standardisation est peut-être en train de toucher ses limites.

Il est essentiel que les autres langues inventorient aussi leurs atouts et les valorisent au niveauplanétaire.

En conclusion, voici quelques axes prioritaires de ce que pourrait être une politique linguistique :1. L’enseignement obligatoire, au lycée, de plusieurs langues étrangères.2. L’enseignement précoce des langues.3. La formation de traducteurs et interprètes professionnels, la traduction étant un

pont entre des couples de langue qui évite le recours à une langue pivot plus oumoins bien maîtrisée par les partenaires.

4. La formation méthodologique des professeurs de langues étrangères. Pour ce quiconcerne les professeurs de français au Japon, ils ont le plus souvent uneformation littéraire qui ne les prépare pas au métier qu’ils font, celui d’enseignerune langue etrangère à tous les niveaux à un public de non-spécialistes : uneactivité qui nécessite un savoir-faire qui, à moins d’avoir du génie, ne s’improvisepas.

Oui, les langues autres que l’anglais ont un avenir, c’est une chance pour la planète, mais quelavenir ? Cela dépend totalement de nous.

Is there a Future for Languages other than English?Jean-Noel JuttetAttache for Cooperation,Cultural Services of the French Embassy in Japan.(Translation and adaptation by Olivier Urbain)

It is well known that languages have a limited lifespan, as do the cultures of which they are an expression.Of all the languages spoken two thousand years ago, not a single one is spoken today. Louis-Jean Calvet,professor of linguistics at the University of Aix-en Provence predicts that during the 21st century, out ofthe 6,700 languages spoken today on our planet, more than half will disappear.

There are two main reasons why I chose to mention this obvious fact. First, it is worth remindingourselves of this reality, even though there is no reason to be outraged about it. Secondly, once we areaware of the threat hanging over the very existence of so many languages, it is our responsibility, asmembers of different countries, and of different cultural and linguistic communities, to defend thesurvival of languages by designing and applying appropriate linguistic policies. This is all the more urgentbecause of globalization, which is putting more and more pressure on languages as well as acceleratingthe pace of changes and transformations.

Today, as different languages are struggling for survival, we see a movement in two seemingly



contradictory directions: on the one hand there is a trend towards standardization. This is a consequenceof current globalization, facilitated by the Internet, which reiinforces even more the power and influenceof American English, which has become already, and I think everybody agrees on this, the lingua francaof our planet.

On the other hand, there is a trend towards the promotion of regional and minority languages, whichby the way, may be linked to the disastrous rise of ethnocentric nationalism. The European Community,for instance, has recently adopted a “Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.” This charter givesthe right to Corsicans to provide their children with a formal education in the Corsican language, and totake care of all administrative matters in their own language. The contradiction between those twomovements is only superficial, since the second tendency is probably a reaction against the first.

As one can see, it is the languages between those two extremes, widely spoken languages likeFrench, Spanish, or German, which are the victims of this state of affairs. However, I must also say thatthe speakers of these languages are somehow like accomplices in this process.

Limiting myself to the case of French, it saddens me to see the tendency of my compatriots tosystematically use English when they are in a foreign country, even when they are dealing with peoplewho can speak French!

I also would like to stigmatize the preconceived notion that all research has to be published inEnglish. Researchers who buy into this notion are placing a limitation on themselves because theirEnglish ability can only take them so far. They could freely pursue their research in their native languageand then ask the help of a professional translator. What about the choice made by some French banks tocommunicate with each other only in English on the international scene? One can only laugh withcontempt at such attitudes, which betray an inferiority complex, as desire to submit oneself to a greaterpower, which one feels obliged to imitate.

Even though we may laugh about them, these tendencies are very strong, notably in business andthe media, and the consequences for languages are severe. For example, a Japanese professor of Frenchtold me the other day that each time Carlos Ghosn, the president of Nissan who is French, speaks Englishin public, one French class has to be closed down. Indeed, why should Japanese students learn French ifFrench people themselves start speaking English all the time?

Here I must pause for a while and spend some time defusing criticism. When we, the French, try todefend and promote the French language and the French-speaking world, some say that we are justputting up a fight against English and that we cannot stand seeing French being left far behind English onthe international scene. However, the elements that shape our outlook and the linguistic policies of Franceare quite different, as we will see now.

Nobody today will contest the idea that everybody should learn English. It has become part of thebasic knowledge that each world citizen must acquire, just like arithmetics and so on. But what would bequite unacceptable, is saying that only English should and must be taught.

Indeed, we consider that languages and cultures are treasures, and that we must protect, cultivate,and share them. Standardization is the danger, diversity the solution.

Cultural heritages are completely determined by the languages in which they are born and it isnecessary to save them from a selection process based on the laws of profit, a process which would onlylet languages with a strong commercial value survive. And languages are wonderful in that respectbecause unlike material goods, the more you share them freely, the more they gain in value and power.

Moreover, one must be conscious of the fact that French, Russian or Japanese people producedifferent things, and create things in different ways depending on their culture. And this is true even insuch fields as mathematics, which are apparently impervious to cultural influences. If the whole worldwould come to speak only one language, it would lose not only its exoticism, but people would lose theircapacity for invention, their talent to give original responses to the challenges confronting them.

Based on what was just said, it is important to give a place to great languages of communication ininternational exchanges. From this point of view, French is not the language of power any more, but thelanguage of a counter-power, which wants to lead the fight in favor of diversity, for itself and for all otherlanguages. This means that, for example, Japanese people should be encouraged to promote their own



language more actively on the international scene. This might be an answer to the recurring questionasked here as to whether English should become the second national language of Japan or not. Butwhenever this question is asked, it seems to point to the so-called difficulties that Japanese experience intheir contacts with foreigners. In my opinion, the main reason why those contacts are difficult is that therest of the world does not speak Japanese, or not enough.

In this struggle in favor of linguistic diversity, battles have already been won. France and Europehave deliberately opted for linguistic pluralism, by introducing a second foreign language as a mandatoryoption in secondary education, sometimes a third one. In France, the learning of a modern language for allpupils of 8 years of age was launched several years ago as an experiment. University students areencouraged to spend a year or more in different European countries thanks to scholarships such asLingua, Leonardo, or Socrates, Many more examples could be added, but let me conclude this part of myspeech by saying that the European community will make 2001 the year of linguistic diversity, withevents and conferences on this theme taking place, also here in Japan.

In comparison with other languages, French has several important assets: the French speaking worldcomprises 181 million speakers on five continents, French is learned by 82 million learners in the worldtoday, and it is one of the working languages of international organizations (UN) and one of the majorlanguages of Europe. It is the first language of the Olympic games, IFAF, and remains one of the mainvectors of international exchanges, allowing acces to a cultural and scientific heritage of primeimportance in the world.

One of the benefits of learning a foreign language is the ability to communicate with speakers of thetarget language, to discover another culture and to learn about cultural relativism. But other importantbenefits include the discovery of new perspectives on one’s own language , one’s own culture, thedevelopment of one’s critical mind, one’s capacity to make decisions, and an opportunity to leave one’ssmall shell, to leave the self and to see oneself more clearly. There is no more beneficial academicdiscipline than learning modern languages.

As to the question of the role of modern tools of communication, I believe one makes a mistakeseeing them merely as instruments at the service of the hegemonic expansion of the dominating languageof today. The internet is a neutral tool, which is not linguistically nor culturally bound: it canaccommodate all languages. Today, communications in English account for, depending on the estimates,between 75 and 85% of the Internet traffic. However, one can see the appearance of more and morebilingual or multilingual sites, a sign that other languages than English are taking over the net. One cansee international television broadcasting companies such as CNN or the BBC developing local productionteams, and this shows that the movement towards standardization might be reaching its limits. Even in theEnglish-speaking world, people do not want to receive the same message everywhere. I would like toencourage speakers of other languages to make an inventory of the strengths of their own language and tolet the world know about these assets.

In conclusion, an appropriate linguistic policy could include the following priorities: first, themandatory learning of several foreign languages in High School. Second, the learning of foreignlanguages at an early age. Third, the training of professional translators and interpreters, translation beinga more effective bridge between speakers of different languages, than a third language which the partiessometimes do not master very well. Fourth, the methodological training of language teachers. In theparticular case of French, most French teachers in Japan come from a literary background, which does notprepare them for the work they are doing. Indeed, teaching a foreign language at all levels to a public ofnon-specialists requires rigorous training and it is an art which cannot be improvised, as you all know.

Based on everything I have written in this paper, yes, I do believe that languages other than Englishhave a future, and this is good news for our world. But what kind of future can we hope for ? It is entirelyup to each of us



Englisch Ist Nicht GenugGeorg SchmidtKulturreferentDeutsche Botschaft Tokio

Auf einer Liste der Volkssportarten Japans dürfte heute die Disziplin „Englischlernen“ nicht fehlen. Seienes Redewendungen aus Nordamerika oder Grammatikübungen aus Grossbritannien, die Sprachlehrerschwirren über alle Fernsehkanäle und füllen die Regale mit ihren Werken; vom Internet ganz zuschweigen. Wenn man sich dagegen nach anderen Fremdsprachen umhört, wird es sehr schnell ruhig.

Natürlich kann man sich die Frage stellen, ob es nicht ausreicht, wenn alle Englisch sprechen. Dieenglische Sprache ist zur Zeit unbestritten die wichtigste Weltsprache, wenn man neben der Zahl derMuttersprachler auch die geographische Verteilung und Zahl derer mit in Betracht zieht, die Englisch alserste Fremdsprache lernen. Wie der Ausdruck „Lingua Franca“ schon zeigt, war das nicht immer so undman kann sich auch durchaus vorstellen, daß in der Zukunft andere Sprachen dem Englischen seine Rollestreitig machen könnten.

Hand in Hand mit der immer stärkeren Rolle des Englischen können wir auch beobachten, wieimmer mehr Sprachen buchstäblich aussterben. So gehen Experten davon aus, daß von den heute ca. 6000weltweit gesprochenen Sprachen in 100 Jahren nur noch 10 % „überleben“ werden. So schwer es ist,Sprachen „künstlich“ am Leben zu erhalten, so traurig ist der Verlust jeder Sprache, die jeweilseinzigartige Konzepte aufweisen, diese Welt zu erfassen.

Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich auch in Japan die Frage nach dem Sinn und Zweck einer zweitenFremdsprache. Warum sich überhaupt mehr als einmal der Tortur von Gerundium, Verlaufsform undunregelmässigen Verben unterziehen ? Eine Frage nicht nur für viele erschöpfte und frustrierte Lernende,sondern auch für die Verantwortlichen in der Bildungspolitik.

Die grundsätzliche Antwort auf die Frage ist einfach: Die Welt besteht aus mehr, als nur demenglischen Sprachraum. Für ein besseres Verständnis von anderen Ländern und Kulturen, kommt mannicht umhin, sich an andere Sprachen zu begeben. Wer sich beispielsweise mit China, der islamischenWelt, oder dem indischen Subkontinent beschäftigt, wird schnell merken, daß man mehr als nurEnglischkenntnisse benötigt, um tiefer in die jeweiligen Kulturen einzudringen.

Es ist gerade diese „interkulturelle Kompetenz“, die im Zeichen der Globalisierung immerwichtiger wird. Selbst wenn wir alle Englisch als eine Art „kreolische“ Weltsprache sprechen sollten,werden wir nicht alle gleich „kreolisch“ denken. Im Gegenteil, so wie man manchmal scherzhaftvermerkt, daß England und die USA zwei Länder seien, die von einer gemeinsamen Sprache getrenntwerden, so kann auch die Tatsache daß wir gleiche Wörter benutzen, den Blick darauf verstellen, daß wirmit ihnen eigentlich immer noch etwas ganz anderes meinen.

Nun werden viele einwenden, daß es für den Handel mit anderen Ländern ausreicht, einegemeinsame Weltsprache zu erlernen. Bis zu einem gewissen Grad trifft das sicherlich zu, aber auch hiergilt, daß ein tieferes Eindringen in andere Märkte die Beherrschung der jeweiligen Landessprachevorraussetzt. Für exportoreintierte Nationen sollte es daher von noch grösserer Bedeutung sein, übergenügend vielsprachige Arbeitskräfte zu verfügen, die diese Möglichkeiten voll ausschöpfen können. Esist interessant zu beobachten, daß zum Beispiel in Deutschland Englischkenntnisse alleine noch keinenhinter dem Ofen hervorlocken sondern zum allgemein erwarteten Standard gehören. Erst bei weiterenFremdsprachen wird es interessant.

Von den vielen Vorteilen einer auf Mehrsprachigkeit ausgerichteten Erziehung möchte ich nur nochEinen zusätzlich erwähnen: Die deutsche Erfahrung der Wiederaussöhnung mit den Nachbarländern hatgezeigt, wie wichtig es ist, diese nicht nur über das Englische als Drittsprache, sondern im direktenZugang zu den jeweiligen Partnern anzugehen. Es ist immer noch ein grosser Unterschied, ob sich einDeutscher und ein Franzose in einer Sprache unterhalten, die für Beide eine Fremdsprache ist, oder ob dieKonversation zumindest für einen in der Muttersprache abläuft. Auch gemeinsame Schulbuchkommissionzur Bewältigung der Vergangenheit wären ohne gegenseitigen Sprachkenntnisse undenkbar.

Ermutigend daran ist, daß vieles darauf hindeutet, daß die zweite und dritte Fremdsprache



grundsätzlich weniger Lernaufwand verlangt, als die erste Fremdsprache. Wer einmal den Prozessdurchgemacht hat, verschiedene grammatische Strukturen und unterschiedliches Vokabular zu lernen,dem ergeben sich bei der nächsten Fremdsprache immer neue „Andockmöglichkeiten“ und Assoziationen.

Es bleibt also die Qual der Wahl: Was sollte als zweite Fremdsprache in Frage kommen ? MeinesErachtens ist die Tatsache, überhaupt eine zweite Fremdsprache zu lernen wichtiger, als die Entscheidungfür welche. Sicherlich ist es einfacher nach Englisch eine zweite europäische Sprache zu lernen; Arabischoder Hindi stellen da schon eine andere Herausforderung dar. Unter den europäischen Sprachen istDeutsch (im Gegensatz zu Spanisch) zwar keine Weltsprache, aber in Europa mit ca. 100 MillionenMuttersprachlern nach Russisch die am meisten gesprochene Sprache.

Die Abschaffung der zweiten Pflichtfremdsprache für japanische Universitätsstudenten seit Mitteder 90er Jahre hat sich auch auf die Zahl der Deutschlernenden in Japan negativ ausgewirkt. Momentanist Deutsch nach Chinesisch, Französisch und Koreanisch auf dem vierten Platz in der Beliebtheit alszweite Fremdsprache, vor Spanisch und Russisch.

Es wäre vermessen zu glauben, daß staatliche und halbstaatliche Institutionen eine entscheidendeRolle bei der Kreation eines bestimmten Image eines Landes spielen können. Das wird umso klarer, wennman den Vergleich mit kommerziellen Markting zu Enden denkt: Werbung für ein so amorphes Produktwie „Deutschland“ erfolgt mit einem sehr viel geringeren Budget als Firmenmarketing, das sich nur aufeine bestimmte Produktpalette beschränken kann. Eine Produktion aus Hollywood kann eine grössereBreitenwirkung erzielen als jahrelange mühsame Kulturarbeit.

Dabei besteht für Deutschland in Japan eine denkbar gute Ausgangslage. Aufbauend auf den engenBindungen der letzten 150 Jahre ist das Deutschlandbild durchweg positiv geprägt. Viele der Inhaltekonzentrieren sich auf die Vergangenheit, so z.B. klassische Musik, Philosophie, Recht und Medizin.Aber auch in zukunftsgewandten Bereichen wie der Umweltpolitik und der Umwelttechnologie istdurchaus grosses Interesse und ein positives Image vorhanden.

Neben dem allgemeinen Image eines Landes, spielen natürlich auch konkrete Perspektiven fürAusbildung und Beruf eine wichtige Rolle in der Entscheidung, welche Sprache man lernt. Im Vergleichzu den angelsächsischen Ländern spielt Deutschland auf dem internationalen Bildungsmarkt immer nocheine vergleichsweise bescheidene Rolle. Deutsche Hochschulen waren im Gegensatz zu denangelsächsischen Universitäten nicht auf Studiengebühren angewiesen und haben daher trotz hoherQualität ihres akademischen Angebots nicht aktiv um ausländische Studenten geworben.

Das hat sich inzwischen geändert. Zwar wird das Studium an öffentlichen deutschen Hochschulenauch weiterhin nicht hauptsächlich über Studiengebühren finanziert werden, aber es hat sich die deutlicheEinsicht durchgesetzt, daß es für den Wissenschafts-und Wirtschaftsstandort Deutschland ein grosserVorteil ist, wenn von dem Angebot der akademischen Aus-und Fortbildung auf Weltklasseniveauinternational mehr Gebrauch gemacht wird.

Daher haben die einzelnen Hochschulen eine Reihe von Massnahmen ergriffen, um das Studium fürAusländer in Deutschland attraktiver zu machen. Das reicht beispielsweise von international kompatiblenAbschlüssen wie B.A. und M.A., über neue international orientierte Studiengänge bis hin zu einerbesseren individuellen Betreuung ausländischer Studenten. Wer sich konkret für das neue Angebotinteressiert, dem seien zwei Internetaddressen ans Herz gelegt:

www.e-studying-in germany.de (Informationen auf Englisch zum Studium in Deutschland) undwww.daad.de/tokyo/ (Aussenstelle des Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienstes in Tokio mitspeziellen Informationen auf Japanisch).

Noch ein Wort zum Abschluß: Ein Aufenthalt in Deutschland und Europa wird zu einem grösserenVerständnis eines politisch und wirtschaftlich immer mehr zusammenwachsenden Kontninents führen, dersich anders als die USA politisch bewusst für die Sprachenvielfalt entschieden hat. Das heißt nicht, daßdas Englische auch in Europa mit aller Macht in alle anderen Sprachen eindringt. Analog zur Lage inJapan, wo Katakana-Ausdrücke die vorher benutzten Wörter verdrängen, würzen auch JugendlicheEuropäer ihre Sprache zu einem Grad mit Anglizismen, daß Regierungen schon staatliche Maßnahmenergreifen, um die eigene Sprache zu schützen. Aber wenn es uns nicht selbst gelingt, uns von dem Wertder eigenen Sprache und einer Sprachenvielfalt zu überzeugen, werden diese Maßnahmen kaum greifen.



Um die Rolle und Bedeutung der Sprachenvielfalt zu unterstreichen, hat die Europäische Union dasJahr 2001 zum Jahr der Fremdsprachen erklärt. Mit einer Reihe von Veranstaltungen soll die oben bereitsangesprochene Bedeutung der Vielsprachigkeit für interkulturelle Kompetenz und intellektuelleEntwicklung unterstrichen werden. Wenn man sich vor Augen führt, daß in den meisten Ländern der Erdenicht eine Landessprache, sondern Vielsprachigkeit und Sprachenvielfalt herrscht, sollte man gerade imZeitalter der Globalisierung die Fähigkeit stärken, sich in diesem Umfeld sicher zu bewegen. Daherspricht vieles dafür, auch den Volkssport „Englischlernen“ neu zu definieren: „Sprachenlernen“ allgemeingibt das besseres Rüstzeug für das 21. Jahrhundert.

English Only Is Not EnoughGeorg SchmidtKulturreferentDeutsche Botschaft Tokio(Translation and adaptation by Rudolf Reinelt)

“Learning English” seems to have become one of Japan’s national sports, with English language teacherson all TV channels and book shelves full with their works, not to mention the Internet. However, askingfor other foreign languages, one soon encounters silence.

We doubt, however, that it is enough, if everyone speaks English only. As regards the number ofnative speakers and those who learn it as a first foreign language as well as in terms of geographicaldistribution, English is at present the uncontested and most important world language. However, as thevery term “lingua franca” indicates, this was not always so, and in the future other languages may takeover this role.

At the same time, a considerable number of languages literally die out. Experts say that, out of the6000 languages spoken world wide nowadays, in 100 years, only about 10 % will survive. As difficult asit is to artificially try and keep languages alive, as sad is the loss of each individual language with its ownunique concepts of the world.

This background leads us to question the aims and goals of foreign language learning in Japan. Whysuffer through memorizing gerunds, present continuous and irregular verbs? This is a question not only bymany tired and frustrated learners, but also to those responsible for educational policy making.

The basic answer is simple. The world consists of more than only the English speaking areas. For abetter understanding of foreign countries and cultures, we cannot but learn other languages. Anyoneinterested in for example China, the Islamic world or the Indian subcontinent, will soon realize that morethan a knowledge of English is necessary to enter deeper into these cultures.

In this time of globalization, “intercultural competence” has become ever more important. Even ifwe all speak English as a world creole, we do not all think similarly. Just as we sometimes jokingly saythat England and the US are two countries divided by the same language, the fact that we use one and thesame expression may make us blind to the fact that we may still mean something quite different.

Many people hold that one common world language is enough for the trade with other countries.While this is true to a certain degree, a deeper intrusion into foreign markets necessitates a knowledge ofthe language of the respective country. Thus, export-oriented countries are required to have a sufficientmultilingual workforce to grasp all opportunities. In Germany, a good knowledge of English has becomestandard, and only that of other foreign languages stands out.

The following proves the success of a multilingually oriented education. The German experience ofreconciliation with its neighbors has shown how important a direct approach is. It does make a difference,whether the conversation between a German and a French person is performed in the mother tongue ofeither of them or not. Textbook commissions for overcoming the past can hardly be imagined withoutmutual linguistic knowledge.

At that, multiple foreign language learning seems to become increasingly easier: A second or thirdforeign language affords less learning efforts than the language(s) learnt previously. Anyone who hasmastered the process of learning different grammatical structures and vocabularies, can quickly find new



links and associations.In my opinion it is more important to actually learn a foreign language than to wonder which one.

Certainly, it is easy to learn another Europaean foreign language after acquiring English, but learningArabic and Hindi will be much more difficult. Among the European languages, German, as opposed toSpanish, is not a world language, but within Europe, it is, after Russian, the second most widely spokenlanguage with about 100 million speakers.

The abolition of the second foreign language requirement at Japanese universities in the mid-90shad a diminishing effect on the number of learners of German. At present, German comes in fourth interms of popularity as a second foreign language after Chinese, French, and Korean, and before Spanishand Russian.

Governmental and semi-governmental institutions can rarely play a decisive part in the creation ofthe image of a country. This becomes especially clear if we compare this situation 8to commercialadvertising with its restriction on a limited number of products. One Hollywood product can have a muchwider widespread effect than laborious culture programs over years.

Germany has a comparably good starting position in Japan. Building on the close relationships inthe last 150 years, Germany’s overall image is quite positive. Much of its contents is focussed on the past,such as classical music, philosophy, law and medicine. But there is also a positive image and atremendous interest in future oriented areas such as environmental politics and - technology.

Besides the general image of a country, concrete prospects for further learning and employmentplay an important role in the decision on which language to learn. In comparison to the anglosaxoncountries, Germany still plays a comparably humble role on the international “educational market”. Incontrast with anglosaxon universities, German universities were independent of tuition fees, and despitetheir high academic quality, never actively tried to attract overseas students.

This has changed. The study at German universities will still not be financed mainly from tuitionfees, but we have come to the insight that it is a tremendous advantage for Germany as a location ofacademia and economy, if the offered world- class level schooling and studies are made much more use ofinternationally.

Therefore the universities have taken several measures to make studying in Germany moreattractive for students from abroad, from internationally recognized diplomas such as B.A and M.A. , andincluding new internationally oriented courses of study, to a better individual care for the needs ofoverseas students. To those interested in the newly offered programs, we recommend two internetaddresses: www.e-studying-in germany.de containing information in English on studying in Germany, andwww.daad.de/tokyo/ the homepage of the Tokyo branch of the DAAD, the German Academic ExchangeService with detailed information in Japanese.

Finally, a stay in Germany and Europe will lead to a wider understanding of a continent that isquickly integrating both politically and economically. It has, in contrast to the USA, politically opted forlinguistic diversity. This does not mean, that English with all its might will penetrate all other languagesin Europe. Similarly to the situation in Japan, where Katakana expressions have even replaced originalJapanese words, young Europaeans spice their language so much with English expressions thatgovernments have already taken measures to guard their language. But unless we can convince ourselvesof the worth of the language and of linguistic diversity, these measures remain inefficient.

To emphasize the role and importance of linguistiv diversity, the European Union has declared 2001the year of linguistic diversity. A large number of events is held to highlight the importance of the above-mentioned linguistic diversity for intercultural competence and intellectual development. Considering thatmost countries on earth are not monolingual and their people multilingual, it is adamant in this age ofglobalization to strenghten the ability to act efficiently in such an environment. Therefore the nationalsport of “Learning English” should probably be redefined as: “Foreign language learning” is the betterpreparation for the 21st century.



The Future of Modern Language Teaching in JapanOlivier UrbainSoka UniversityOLE French Network Coordinator

Introduction

As a French teacher and member of OLE, the Other Language Educators SIG within JALT, I understandsome of my colleagues’ s frustrations concerning the disproportionate share English teaching receives inJapan compared to other languages. However I would like to challenge two preconceived ideasconcerning this matter.

First, the idea that there is fierce competition between foreign languages in Japan, and thatwhenever English wins, other languages lose out.

Second, the notion that globalization should be equated with the standardization of modern life dueto the use of the Internet, a tool which favors the English language above all others, and that globalizationas such should be considered as a threat.

English as the Enemy?

To undermine the idea of educational Darwinism characterized by relentless competition, I would like togive four examples of the possibility of collaboration between the teaching of English and that of otherlanguages.

First, it is a well-accepted fact that in most countries of the world, one will be able to get by usingEnglish in the absence of any knowledge of the local language. However, even though English is aconvenient tool during the first attempts towards integration into another culture, learning the locallanguage will still become indispensable at a later stage. In order to really get to know the new country, itsculture and its inhabitants, it will be necessary at some point to learn the local language(s). Howeverwithout the help of English it would often be much harder to make it through the first few days or weeks.I remember how much English helped me when I first arrived in Japan ten years ago, not knowing asingle word of Japanese. However, when I speak Japanese with my neighbors today, I reach much higherlevels of communication, intimacy and integration. This shows that even though a knowledge of Englishcan be a bridge towards another culture, providing survival skills in the initial stages, it cannot replace acommand of the local language.

Second, on our campus we have established an immersion room for English called the Chit-Chat-Club and then later a separate room called the Global Village offering semi-immersion activities in ninedifferent languages. After one year, we discovered that English was really missing from the GlobalVillage and that it was necessary to add it as the tenth language to achieve our goal of establishing a trulyintercultural center.

Third, English came to the rescue when I discovered that it was impossible to teach a class aboutVictor Hugo and Human Rights in French because of the linguistic level of Japanese university students.This was to be expected since French classes in Japanese High Schools are (still) quite exceptional. Theclass is therefore conducted in English, a language that makes it possible to get Victor Hugo’s point acrossand to share the greatness of French literature with students.

Fourth, one of the main reasons why students wanted to take my French language classes ten yearsago was their dislike of English and the way it was taught in High School. Those students preferred tomake a fresh start, but today the situation is quite different. The main reason why students want to takethe class, besides liking French and French-speaking cultures, is that they feel confident about theirEnglish level. The rationale of a majority of freshmen today is that since they already know English, theywant to learn another language.

My goal in choosing these four examples was to demonstrate how English language education canactually enhance the learning of other foreign languages.



Globalization as the Enemy?

Teachers of languages other than English often talk about “Globalization” as the worst evil, a concertedattack by transnational businesses and financial holdings against our environment. Of course manyteachers of English share the same concern for our planet and indeed, the possibility of extinction for lifeon earth is very real, as Edmund O’Sullivan tells us in his latest book:

“At the outset of this work, I would like to dramatize my position on the current forces oftransnational economic globalization. I believe that in their present form they represent the mostdestructive and malignant forces of modernism.” (O’Sullivan 2000, p. 2)

He continues:“Our attempts at education will certainly have to be framed either to deny the terror or to deal with

the incredible dangers that we are facing on this planet.” (p. 17)Once we become aware of the gigantic and ongoing destruction perpetrated by “transnational

economic globalization”, the question I suggest we ask ourselves is: “What exactly is it, that is beingglobalized?

If we continue globalizing and promoting greed, desire for material wealth, disregard for the needy,irresponsible attitudes towards the environment, in a word if what is being globalized is what I would call“unethical and irresponsible materialism and consumerism” then of course the globalization of these typesof behavior constitutes a serious threat to the very existence of life on our planet.

However, what about globalizing personal integrity, social responsibility, awareness of theinterconnectedness of all things, love for people, respect for diversity, and harmony with theenvironment? For example the Earth Charter initiative represents such an attempt at “globalization” ofeverything we need to survive and even to thrive as a species among species. If this is what is beingglobalized, then the tools of globalization, among others the Internet and the English language, aredefinitely on the side of humanity. As Kip Cates says:

“The commitment to work towards solving world problems comes from attitudes and valuesinvolving global awareness, curiosity, altruism and social concern” (Cates, 1998, p. 213).

Conclusion

I believe we can all work together, transcending sometimes conflicting goals and agendas, if only wedecide to base ourselves on a higher purpose, such as the globalization of sound ethical principles. I willeven suggest that the more English is taught in Japan, the more other languages will thrive in this country.Indeed, let us imagine for an instant what would happen if English language education in Japaneseprimary, junior and senior high schools were so effective that all Japanese high school graduates becamefluent in English, just like their counterparts in Scandinavia today. In that case, there would be much moreroom for the learning of other languages at all levels, including in universities where Japanese studentscould concentrate on one or more languages besides English, a language they would already have undertheir belts. Will we see the rise of an age of cooperation after a 20th century marred with self-defeatingcompetition? Language teachers in Japan are in a good position to show the way...

References

Cates, K. (1999). Global Education and Language Teacher Training. JALT 98 Proceedings. (p. 213).Tokyo: Japan Association for Language Teaching.

O’Sullivan, O. (2000). Transformative Learning: Educational Vision for the 21st Century. Toronto:Toronto University Press.



Many believe that the rise of English is inevitable, and that Esperanto is anice dream of the past, which has failed.But in fact, the spread of English is facing resistance, while Esperanto isgaining momentum worldwide. The increasingly unrealistic costs oftranslation and interpretation, besides fundamental concerns about humanrights and language democracy, are leading the European Union todiscuss the option of Esperanto, and UNESCO to encourage nationalgovernments to take steps in favour of Esperanto.A careful analysis of the main features of Esperanto (regularity, creativity,neutrality, efficiency), of its learnability (easier and faster to learn thanany other language) and teachability, of its social and psychologicaleffects on speakers (tolerance and international identity) and of thedynamics of the Esperanto movement, leads us to the conviction that, inthe context of globalization, it is quite possible that Esperanto will make abreakthrough this century.

多くの人が英語の多用化は避けられないと信じ､エスペラント語は過去の素敵な夢であり、失敗であると思っている。

しかし、実はエスペラント語が全世界に広がりつつある中、英語の多用化は抵抗に合っている。非現実的に増加し続ける翻訳と通訳にかかる費用

や人権と言語使用上の民主主義についての根本的な関心により、欧州連合は、エスペラント語を採択することを

論議しようとしており、ユネスコも各国政府にエスペラント語を認めるよう促している。

エスペラント語の主な特徴（規則性､創造性､中立性､効率の良さ）とその学習し

やすさ（他のどんな言語よりやさしく速く習得できる）､教授しやすさ、

また、エスペラント語習得者の社会的心理的効果（寛容さと国際アイデンティティ）、そしてエスペラント語運動の力強さにより、地球時代化が叫ばれる現代にあり、エスペラント語はこの新世紀に躍進する可能性が十分あると言える。

Introduction

News reports are recently fullof good news. The whole

world is learning English,which is increasingly becoming

the world’s lingua franca. At last,the world is overcoming the curse of

Babel. Or is it?

The problems

Legal

a) All international charters and conventions stressthe equality of all languages and the principle

AlainLauffenburger

Kagoshima Immaculate HeartUniversity

HasEsperantoa Chancein the 21stCentury?


of non-discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, religion and language.b) No international convention stipulates that English is the international language.

In fact, all international and intergovernmental organisations have a policy oflimited multilingualism.

c) If English were one day to be chosen by the international community as theinternational language, it would become the property of the internationalcommunity which would assume the right to set a language policy:standardization, a radical spelling reform, etc. English speakers would ceasehaving a language of their own. Are they ready to accept this consequence?

HumanEnglish, like any other national language, is a very difficult language: besides difficult phonology andhighly confusing grapho-phonemic correlations, its grammar and word building are full of irregularities.Basically, every word, word form and idiom has to be learned individually. Consequently, communicationbetween native and non-native speakers is hampered linguistically and psychologically.

“For most adult learners acquisition stops - ‘fossilizes’ - before the learner hasachieved native-like mastery of the target language.” (Lightbrown, 1985; In:Mullarney, 1999: 111)

Socio-politicalEnglish is and remains primarily a national language, in spite of assertions to the contrary, i.e. that it hasbecome an international language, or World English, belonging equally to everyone (1). And victims ofinjustice have a nasty tendency to revolt. France and Québec have passed laws limiting the influence ofEnglish, and Poland and Brazil are considering similar measures. In Japan, opposition is forming againstthe idea of making English the second official language. The triumphant spread of English may provokemore resistance. Language is power, so the domination of one national language over others is an aspectof the domination of one people over others. And, according to Dr Zamenhof:

“The main cause of wars is the domination of one people over others.” (2) (In:Centassi & Masson, 1995: 331)

This is a serious warning. As Mullarney underlines (1999: 111-112):

“English has a dominant position, not because it is especially easy to learn, butbecause of the history of the British Empire, followed by the U.S. Empire. (...)Everyone knows already that there is a problem; only very rarely does anyone admitthat it is practically insuperable; more rarely still is it acknowledged that an alternativeexists, a language that can be mastered.”

The solution: ESPERANTO

National or ethnic languages seperate humans as much as they unite them within their respective ethnicgroups. The language barrier is nearly as old as human kind, although the Biblical tradition sets its originin the story of Babel.

HistoryDescartes and Leibniz, and other philosophers, thought that no national language, be it living or dead,could satisfactorily overcome the language barrier. They asserted that only a constructed language coulddo so. Over time, more than one thousand projects have been put forward. One of them is “La lingvoInternacia”, published 1887 by Doctor Zamenhof under the pseudonym “Doktoro Esperanto”.“Esperanto” is an Esperanto word that means “the one who is hoping”, and was to become the name of

Lauffenberger: Has Esperanto a Chance in the 21st Century


the language itself.Due to its own intrinsic value, to historic circumstances and to the commitment of several

generations of Esperantists, Esperanto is the only project of a constructed international language that hasactually developed over the years into a full fledged living language, with a community of speakers and avast collection of literature, original and translated, fiction and non-fiction, plays, poetry and songs,magazines as well as radio programmes. The Esperanto movement, based on humanistic values,developed a diversified international culture. It experienced a strong expansion after World War I, withsupport from leading personalities, and developed until today, in spite of the lack of support and frequentopposition from national States (France vetoed its adoption by the League of Nations), and in spite ofmerciless persecutions in Nazi-Germany, in the stalinist Soviet Union and post war Soviet block, andunder the military dictatorship in Japan. Esperanto was twice recognized, in 1954 and 1985, by UNESCO,which urged national States to introduce it in their educational programmes. As Mullarney states (1999:179-183), there are now more than 50 national Esperanto-Associations organised under the UniversalEsperanto-Association, and more than 30 special interest associations as well as many Esperanto Centresall over the world. Associations have their publications, meetings and their yearly congresses: the WorldEsperanto-Congress, the Japanese Esperanto-Congress, the World Youth Esperanto-Congress, etc., ormeet during the World Esperanto-Congress, a one week festival and scientific congress which occursevery July in a different city. Many people use Esperanto for private contacts, for travelling (with thesystem “Pasporta Servo”), as well as for scientific and cultural purposes, or for business relations.According to Centassi & Masson (1995: 380), “Estimates of the number of speakers vary between 1 and 3million, even more.”

StructureThe main feature of Esperanto is its regularity and absence of exceptions in all aspects of the language.(Janton, 1973: 49-81; Janton & Piron, 1987: 4-5)

- There is a clear one to one relation between every sound and letter: so, the learnerand user of the language develops a strong feeling of security from the onset.

- Every grammatical function has a clear marker: the endings -o for nouns, -a foradjectives, -e for adverbs, -i for verbs in the infinive, -as for the present tense,etc. So, the function of every word is instantly recognized in listening and reading.As Mullarney notes (1999: 24), “The real advantage in learning Esperanto isthat it is grammatically transparent.”

- The vocabulary is regularly constructed with a limited number of radicals or roots,chosen carefully for their occurrence in a number of languages, excludinghomophones, and a limited number of prefixes and suffixes. So, the learner hasto learn the rules of word building rather than every single word, and thus itrequires far less memorisation than for any national language.

- The syntax is relatively free thanks to prepositions and an accusative marker forthe object.

The basic radicals have been chosen mostly from European languages: 75% from Latin andRomance languages, because they are also found in many other languages, 20% from Germaniclanguages, mainly English and German, and 5% from Slavic languages, Greek and other languages. Butthe structure of Esperanto is not typically European: it’s more a combination of the isolating languagetype found in Chinese and the agglutinating language type found in Japanese and other languages.(Discussion in: Cherpillad, 1988)

Acquisition & psychological effectsThe acquisition process of Esperanto itself is a unique experience. Numerous empirical studies show that,given its regular structure, it can be learned five to ten times faster than any national language. Provided



the learner is sufficiently motivated, he/she makes a fast start and keeps learning at a high speed. (Janton& Piron, 1987: 11)

Claude Piron gives a psycho-linguistic explanation of the “miracle” (Piron, 1994: 221-223) ofEsperanto:

“The difference between Esperanto and most other languages is that it applies the principle ofgeneralizing assimilation without any restriction. Once one has learned a structure or an element, one canalways generalize them to the whole language. Because of this, more readily than other languages,Esperanto embeds itself deeper in the language area of the mind, and closer to the part where thoughts arespontaneously transformed into words.” (Piron, 1994: 176)

Besides, Esperanto stimulates both ability and motivation to learn other languages: as severalstudies have shown, children who learn Esperanto develop a higher ability to learn other languages,including their own native language. (Fighiera, 1995: 53-54)

In addition, Esperantists often point to the fact that they develop a new identity as human beings,which puts in perspective national and other differences.

Doubts & strategy

Why then, in view of so many advantages, has Esperanto not swept the world yet?

The law of the jungleThe French linguist Louis-Jean Calvet has developed in several books (1974; 1987; 1993) his theme thatlanguages are subject to the law of the jungle: the bigger ones eat the smaller ones, it has always been so,and it will always be so. Discussing the possible choice of Esperanto as the federal language of theEuropean Union, a proposal which is part of the programme of the Italian Radical Party, he writes:

“The choice of Esperanto would be (...) a decision in vitro which would be extremely difficult toturn into a daily practice in vivo. History shows us that expansion (as well as regression) of a language isnot only a linguistic phenomenon, that it has always been the linguistic aspect of a social, economic andpolitical phenomenon. But Esperanto is not based on any movement of this type.” (1993: 185)

The last sentence shows clearly that Calvet does not really know Esperanto and the Esperantomovement, and assumes that it is still only the project of a constructed language. His argument couldeasily be turned around: Esperanto has become a living language, with its daily practice in vivo, supportedby a strong social movement.

DefeatismThe Swiss Esperantist Tazio Carlevaro’s study: “Cxu Esperanto postvivos la jaron 2045?” (3) (“WillEsperanto survive the year 2045?”), analyses the language situation in Switzerland, and beyond. Heconcludes that Esperanto has lost, that Esperantists had their historic function as pioneers of aninternational language, but that their ideal is being realized under their eyes by another language, English.They should therefore admit their defeat.

“There is an antique and strange disgust against the idea of a planned language. This disgust isoriginal, ancestral. So why in the world insist on gaving a planned language to someone who does notwant it? Presumably Esperantists were wrong. They believed that the public would like David. But, it wasGoliath who became popular, while David absolutely did not.” (Carlevaro, 2000: 46) “English”, heexplains, “has reached the “critical mass” (idem: 49-50), which makes its expansion from now oninevitable.

Psychological resistanceThe Belgian esperantist Claude Piron, a former translater at the United Nations and professor ofpsychology at Lausanne University, has analysed the costs of language teaching world wide in relation toits results, as well as the costs for translation and interpretation at international and intergovernmentalorganizations in relation to their inefficency and malfunction, and comes to the conclusion that the



“management of international communication” is “pathological”:“Expending a mad amount of energy in order to malfunction, and often feel frustrated and irritated,

although one could function perfectly well for a negligible amount of energy, is the very definition ofneurosis.” (Piron, 1994: 188-189) And “resistance is a normal element of any neurosis”, he adds (idem:211). Piron analyses the acquisition process of one’s native language, and of its symbolic functions, andconcludes:

“(Language) is sacred. As a consequence, conscious intervention on the field of language issacrilege. A good part of the syndrom of Babel has its roots in this way of seeing things. Zamenhofappears as a Prometheus who went and stole from the gods what was their domain. He defied a taboo. Hecommited a sacrilege against the very notion of language. (...) To follow him means running the risk ofsupranatural punishment.” (idem: 214) Thus, Piron explains the resistance against Esperanto from apsychological standpoint, and his conclusion is opposite to that of Carlevaro’s: the taboo can and must beovercome.

The conspiracy of silenceThe taboo mentioned here seems to me to be quite relative, and to have its source more in the attempts ofa dominant culture to silence a troublemaker. As one example, Mullarney reports how Western mediafailed to inform the world about he World Esperanto Congress in Beijing in 1986, in a country which hasbeen promoting Esperanto since 1912:

“(...) the news that escaped the English-speaking world, and probably much of therest of the non-Chinese four-fifths, the news that China has taken Esperanto to itsheart. (...) Everything (...) was recorded by television cameras, photographed byprofessionals.Naturally, we supposed that the TV was international. (...) There were, indeed, morethan a hundred journalists observing, but they were all Chinese. Yet this was thelargest gathering of foreigners that had ever come together in China.” (1999: 138)

When one becomes involved in the Esperanto movement, one gets the strong impression that thereis, indeed, in the media a conspiracy of silence against Esperanto. The world is misinformed andprejudiced against the essential concern of international communication, language democracy andEsperanto. The Esperanto movement urgently needs a strategy to overcome this deadlock.

Conclusion

In the context of globalization, English must be considered a minority language: it is the native languageof approximately 5% of the world population. Its present strong stand is due to the history of colonisationand to the dominant position of the United States. But who knows the future? Piron writes:

“There is, in social phenomena, a critical mass which makes one tendency prevailagainst another. Esperanto exhibits all signs of an evolution towards such a criticalmass. Its progression on all fronts is such that it is very likely that it is nearing thethreshold where it will prevail.” (1994: 333)

He compares the struggle of Esperanto with the long and gruelling struggle of Arabic numeralsagainst the rival system of Roman numerals, and concludes, “When a system is clearly superior toanother, it eventually overcomes.” (1994: 334) The present use of English or other national languages forinternational communication is a makeshift solution, which I believe is essentially transitional. There canbe no real world democracy without language democracy. The world of globalization needs a neutral andtruly international language, such as Esperanto. In this view, Esperanto has a real chance in the 21stcentury.



Notes(1) The question of World Englishes (Kachru, 1992 & 1997) was raised during the discussion of my

paper. Space does not permit a thorough discussion of this challenging question here. I shall thereforelimit myself to a few points. As I see it: (a) the world of globalization needs an international language;(b) English, or any other national language, is not a solution because it brings a dangerous bias inhuman relations; (c) Esperanto has proven that it can fulfill this function in a more satisfying way; (d)the World Englishes approach both overestimates the impact of English, and underestimates theEsperanto language and movement.

(2) The translation of all quotations is provided by the author of this article.

(3) “x” replaces, in this article, the circumflex or the shortness sign on accented Esperanto letters.

References

Calvet, L.-J. (1974). Linguistique et colonialisme, petit traité de glottophagie. Paris: Editions Payot.

Calvet, L.-J. (1987). La Guerre des langues et les politiques linguistiques. Paris: Editions Payot.

Calvet, L.-J. (1993). L’Europe et ses langues. Paris: Editions Plon. (p. 185)

Carlevaro, T. (2000; first published 1999) Cxu Esperanto postvivos la jaron 2045? Bellinzona: HansDubois. (pp. 46, 49-50)

Centassi, R. & Masson, H. (1995). L’homme qui a défié Babel . Paris: Editions Ramsay. (pp. 331, 380)

Cherpillad, A. (1988). La aglutinaj lingvoj kaj Esperanto. Eldono de la auxtoro (=own edition). (pp. 5-6,& pp. 10-23)

Fighiera, G. C. (1995). Esperanto preter la jaro 2 000 (Temoj por publika informado pri Esperanto).Parizo: 2-a Esperanto Euxrop-Unia Kongreso. (pp. 53-54)

Janton, P. (1973). L’espéranto. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. (pp. 49-81)

Janton, P. & Piron, C. (1987). L’espéranto: un droit à la communication. Paris: L’Union Française poutl’Espéranto. (pp. 4-5, 11)

Kachru, B. B. (ed.) (1992; first published 1982). The Other Tongue. Urbana and Chicago: University ofIllinois Press.

Kachru, B. B. (1997). Several articles. In On JALT96 Crossing Borders. The Proceedings of the JALT1996 International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning. Tokyo: The Japanese Associationfor Language Teaching.

Lightbrown, P. (1985). Great Expectations. In Applied Linguistics, Vol. 6, No 2. (Quotation in Mullarney,1999: 111)

Mullarney, M. (1999). Everyone’s own language. Nitobe Press. (First published 1989 as Esperanto forHope. Dublin: Poolbeg Press Ltd.) (pp. 24, 111, 112, 179-183)

Piron, C. (1994). Le défi des langues: du gâchis au bon sens. Paris: Editions l’Harmattan. (pp. 176, 188-189, 211, 214, 221-223, 333, 334



Section Two

Childrenand Language

Education


This article outlines a short-term residential Intensive English Program(IEP) in Japan for university students. The IEP aims to achieve alanguage immersion environment through a combination of small grouplessons, a leisure program, evening activities, as well as contact withforeign staff and families. The main objectives include the improvementof communicative skills, an increase in learner motivation and to furthercross-cultural understanding. Learners are encouraged to absorb Englishat every opportunity through classes, independent study and interactionwith native speakers. Classes emphasize speaking and listening activities,with extensive use of pair work and group work. During the leisureprogram and free time periods, learners have many opportunities tocommunicate with native speakers. Learner outcomes have been quitepositive, with reports about a real sense of language immersion andpositive developments in speaking and listening skills. Students have alsoexpressed satisfaction with the communal lifestyle and cross-culturalexperiences.

大学生が日本国内でホームステイをしながらの短期英語研修 IntensiveEnglish Program (IEP) について、概要をまとめてみました。IEPは、外国人教員とその家族との交流のみならず、少人数でのクラス、レクリエーションや夜の特別プログラムによって英語に囲まれた体験を学生にしても

らい、英語力の向上をはかるものです。学生の会話力が向上し、異文化理解と異文化への関心がさらに深められ

るようになっていきます。クラスや自習の時間、またネイティブスピーカーと交流な

ど、英語にどっぷりとつかれる機会がたくさんあります。学生にはその機会を十

分活かして欲しいと願っています。クラスでは二人ずつペアーを組んだ

レッスンや、グループでのレッスンを通して、英語を話すことと聞き分けることを中心に進めていきます。レクリエーションや自由時間には、ネイティヴ・スピーカーと話すチャンスがたくさんあります。過去の参加者からの反応は大変よく、本物の英語に触れることができた、英語の実力がついたなどの感想がありました。また、

学生も、先生も、その家族も共に生活しながらの異文化体験はとても意義深いものでした。

Introduction

This article will focus on a biannualone week residential Intensive English

Program (IEP) in Japan for undergraduatesat Tokyo Denki University (TDU). The IEP

includes classroom instruction, an extracurricularprogram, evening activities, independent study, plus interaction

with foreign teachers and families in order to create a languageimmersion environment for learners. The primary objectives are toimprove speaking and listening skills, increase motivation to study

Mitchell ClarkTokyo Denki University

AShort-TermLanguage

Immersion CaseStudy


English and develop cross-cultural understanding. Bodycott and Crew (2000) reported on a six weekoverseas immersion program and noted many positive learner outcomes. This study will includeinformation about the TDU program, the language immersion environment and learner outcomes.

Background

TDU Office of Academic Affairs regards the Japan IEP as an important means to emphasize oralcommunication skills in the context of the internationalization of Japanese society. TDU introduced theprogram to offer a quality, but inexpensive alternative to overseas study programs. The universityintended to establish a short-term program with a combined language center and homestay environment.The first Japan IEP was held in August 1995 and has continued on a regular basis during each summerand winter vacation. As an Assistant Professor, I have been involved in programs since 1997.

TDU is a large university, with three campuses in the Kanto region. Students are predominantlyenrolled in engineering courses and about 90% are male. Most students are false beginner to lowintermediate proficiency level. Students take one or two 90 minute English classes per week and mayselect courses taught by a foreign or Japanese teacher. Some learners may not be enrolled in any Englishcourses in the semester before an IEP.

Also, there is a lapse of about one month between the final classes for each semester and theprogram. Clearly, the regular English study pattern is one of very low intensity. The selection process is avital stage as it allows teachers to assess the English ability and motivation level of students. Applicantshave an interview, write a 250 word report, complete an English study profile and take a listening test.The interview includes several questions related to language learning experiences and preferences. IEPstudents have consistently indicated a strong desire to improve speaking and listening skills. Such learnerneeds are consistent with the above objective of the university administration to improve oralcommunication. Furthermore, most foreign teachers have been interested in the improvement ofcommunicative competence. This shared interest has allowed foreign staff to implement a communicativelanguage teaching approach, which is learner-centered.

Language immersion environment

As the IEP aims to establish a highly intensive English language environment, the experience commenceswhen students board the bus in Tokyo for a lengthy journey to the rural destination. The group of 15 to 20students, is joined by two or three foreign teachers and family members. At first, teachers welcome thestudents and introduce family members. This is followed by student self-introductions to the group or byutilizing pair work. Students are then engaged in a range of activities, including songs, vocabularyexercises, crosswords and quizzes. Teachers and family members also circulate around the bus andinteract with students as much as possible in English. Consequently, students arrive at the venue with agreat deal of valuable exposure to the target language on the first day. Later in the evening, an orientationsession stresses the goal to create a world of English. Participants are encouraged to imagine the venue asan imaginary foreign land and to live the language with a great deal of effort and enthusiasm all day andevery day.

From the second day of the program, the schedule is divided into morning, afternoon and eveningsessions. There are three hours of morning classes, which focus on listening and speaking activities. Avocabulary or speaking activity is normally used as a warm-up, followed by an extended listeningcomprehension exercise. Later, pair work and group work tasks are used extensively to developcommunicative skills. The topics may include student interests such as university life, part-time jobs,sports or more advanced studies related to a range of issues. Nimmannit (1998) highlighted the benefitsassociated with group work and identified considerable enthusiasm to speak in the target language. As anIEP instructor, I have observed similarly favorable outcomes to pair work and group work. The learnersare genuinely interested and motivated to discuss topics and issues of interest with classmates.

For the afternoon session, students participate in a variety of sports and leisure activities. By way ofexample, the summer IEP in the Japan Alps includes mountain biking, golf driving practice, hiking, a

Clark: A Language Immersion Case Study


gondola lift, tennis and visits to a museum and a hot spring. Importantly, teaching staff and familymembers participate in afternoon sessions. Learners have many chances to communicate and concertedefforts are made to engage the students in English discussions. This allows students to experiment withlanguage practiced during morning sessions or to introduce their own topics of conversation. This veryrelaxing and informal atmosphere encourages a lot of valuable target language interaction.

The evening sessions usually concentrate on more lively and entertaining language tasks, includinggames, skits, role plays, video clips, movies and songs. By this time of the day, students have beenexposed to about eight hours of English input. When combined with physical activity each day, studentsoften need some extra stimulation to remain focused.

Songs are an especially effective way to further immerse students in the language experience at theconclusion of a long day. Domoney and Harris (1993) used songs to increase student motivation andpromote pair work and group work. In the Japan IEP, songs have served as an effective tool to maintainlearner interest, develop listening skills and as a catalyst for conversation activities.

Learner outcomes

Course evaluations, interviews and informal discussions with IEP participants have identified successwith the language immersion environment. Students have consistently reported a high level of satisfactionwith the amount of opportunities to improve speaking and listening skills. Many have also indicated anactual improvement in these skills but this is probably a subjective short-term appraisal. Many learnersstated that Japanese began to sound like English as the IEP progressed. Other students noted a tendency tothink in English and start to speak the target language first in all situations, even when chatting withclassmates during free time. It was also interesting to observe difficulties with writing course evaluationsin Japanese. The English immersion experience made Japanese characters seem rather alien in someinstances.

There have also been positive attitudinal shifts toward English study. Generally, learners have beenpleased with teaching styles and the implementation of a learner-centered methodology for languageclasses. Students have reported an increase in motivation, a desire to study English more in future andexpressed greater confidence in speaking and listening abilities. Before the IEP, most students are hesitantabout the immersion experience, but this is often replaced by a feeling of accomplishment aftercompleting the course. Some students have regarded the IEP as a base to prepare for overseas study, travelor work experiences. Finally, the simulated homestay and communal lifestyle has prompted manyremarks about important cooperative experiences, increased maturity and enhanced cross-culturalunderstanding.

References

Bodycott, P. & Crew, V. (2000). Living the Language: The value of short-term overseas English languageimmersion programs. The Language Teacher, 24 (9), 27 - 33.

Domoney, L. & Harris, S. (1993). Justified and ancient: pop music in EFL classrooms. ELT Journal, 47(3), 234 - 241.

Nimmannit, S. (1998). Maximizing Students’ Oral Skills: The Asian Context. The Language Teacher, 22(11)

Clark: A Language Immersion Case Study


For bilingual children, literacy in both languages is important todeveloping a deep, rich understanding of their languages and cultures,and plays an important role in giving them choices in developing theircultural identity and academic options. However, the issue of isolationfor many bilingual children can be an acute one in terms of developingand maintaining literacy in the minority language. With the advent of theInternet, multilingual learners today may have a potential ally in bringingthe world into the home or classroom. Online newspapers and websitesbased on science, global issues or history topics may be valuableresources for developing literacy, as may various types of Computer-Mediated-Communication. In an attempt to better understandpedagogical implications for online programs for young learners, theauthors conducted a short pilot study looking at children’s reactions to anonline after-school program. Two nine-year old bilingual (Japanese/English) children, one living in Japan and the other in Britain,participated in the five-week program. Reading and writing activitieswere developed around the theme of ‘Space’, and included onlinequizzes, information gaps and tandem story writing. Ongoing interviewswith the children and parents indicate that while, on the whole, the

children found the computer-based learning useful and interesting,they found some of the activities boring and were

frustrated by word-processing. The authorssuggest several solutions to these

problems, such as helping children toproduce an online newspaper, as

possible areas to explore in thefuture.

バイリンガルの子供にとって２カ国語での読み書きの能力は、言語と文化の深く豊かな理解力の育成と、本人の文化の主体性や学問選択の面で重要な役割をもたらす。ところが両方の言語を同時に使う機会がなくなり、すなわち一方の

言語環境から隔離されてしまった場合、その言語の読み書き能力をさらに発展させ、維

持させるには大きな問題が生じる。今日インターネットの到来により、多言語学習者は"世界"を

自宅または教室へ取り入れることが出来るようになった。さまざまな

コンピュータ通信メディアと同様に、科学、世界問題、歴史などに関するオン

ライン新聞やホームページは読み書きの能力を発達させるために価値ある素材となるであ

ろう。子供のためのオンラインプログラムをもっと理解し、このプログラムが持つ教育効果を調査するため、著

者は子供たちに放課後のオンラインプログラムに参加してもらい、彼らの反応を調べる短いパイロット研究を行った。バイリンガル( 日本語/英語)の９歳児２名(１人は日本に在住、もう１人は英国に在住)が５週間のオンラインプログラムに参加して、著者によって開発されたオンラインクイズ、information gapおよび物語記述を含む宇宙に関する読み書きのactivityを

Andrea CarlsonReiko Furuya

AVirtual Classroom

for BilingualChildren


行った。プログラムの進行と平行して子供たちと両親にインタビューを行い次の事柄が判明した。それは、子供たちはコンピュータを利用した学習に興味があり、役立つと思っていること、いくつかのactivityはつまらないと感じていること、そしてキーボード操作が思い通りにいかないため苛立ちを感じていることであった。著者はこれらの問題解決の方法として、例えば子供にオンライン新聞を作成させる指導方法などを提示することにより、オンラインプログラムの将来的な可能性を調査した。

A Pilot Study for a Virtual Japanese/English Literacy Program

Like other parents of bicultural children, we hope our children will feel that they belong in both of theircultures and that they have options in deciding their cultural identities. We believe that language is centralto this, and that being able to read and write well in both languages is a key to knowing language andculture, and to keeping up academically in both places. In this report we will describe the piloting workwe have done in setting up an online program aimed at maintaining and extending children’s literacyskills in English and Japanese. We will then outline some of the resources we have found to be useful.

Online Learning for Bicultural Children

We decided to set up the English/Japanese online after-school program to investigate in what ways such aprogram might help children to develop and extend their reading and writing skills in the language theyare not currently being schooled in. Reiko Furuya coordinates the Japanese materials and activities, whileAndrea Carlson oversees the overall project and coordinates the English side of things. Our interestcomes from our experiences with our own children. Reiko Furuya’s children (Nina, 5.2 and Rick, 9.5)attend an International School in Japan, but will eventually move into the Japanese school system. AndreaCarlson’s children (Saya 5.3 and Kaita 9.5) have moved from the Japanese school system to a state schoolin England. All of the children are fairly balanced bilinguals, except for Saya who, since leaving Japan,understands Japanese but does not speak it well. For both families there is an issue of trying to developand maintain literacy in both languages to avoid having the children be forced to do massive amounts ofcatching up when they go back into the other school system.

Particularly with the older boys, we notice they are very much influenced by their schoolenvironment. For example, having spent a very happy year as a Japanese ichinensei, Kaita was extremelyreluctant to enter school in England and was resolute in not wanting to learn to read and write English.After just one day at his school in England, however, his attitude completely changed. In his words,“Mom, it was so fun! Please can I go back again tomorrow? Teach me English tonight! I want to do whatthey are doing!”

A year and a half later, Kaita reads and writes English very enthusiastically and well. He continuesto read Japanese, but while he will sit and practice writing kanji if his parents plead with him, he has nointerest in really remembering kanji or writing Japanese. A Japanese Saturday school is out of thequestion as London is too far away, and there are no Japanese families nearby with whom to make alearning group. We started wondering if being part of a community of online peers might have a similareffect on the children’s motivation that being in either a Japanese or a British class has had. In otherwords, will our children, and other children in similar situations, be more motivated to read and write inthe language they are not being schooled in if they have peers to interact with and interesting reasons tointeract, and can computers provide a way for these children to link up to use their minority language?

As former CALL teachers in Japanese universities we knew that multilingual learners today have apowerful ally in the computer as, in a sense, the world can be brought into the home or classroom. Wealso knew from experience that computers lend themselves well to learner-centered collaborativelearning, which has the potential to be motivating in and of itself.

We envisioned our web-based classroom as incorporating many of the elements others havepioneered so well, including:

Collaborative writing activities, such as those done though the HUT InternationalWriting Project (Vilmi, 1998)

Carlson et.al.: A Virtual Classroom for Bilingual Children


Topic based threaded discussions, such as those done through the InternationalStudent Lists (Robb, 1996)

Bilingual and multicultural web projects, such as those done through Orillas, I*EARN,and the Global Schoolhouse (Cummins and Sayers, 1996)

Readings on a variety of topics, such as those at Global Issues for Learners of English(http://www2.gol.com/users/bobkeim/contents.html) or the science-relatedreadings found at A Science Room for Everyone (http://133.96.51.58/rika.htm)

What we did not know, of course, was how the children would do in this new learning environment.So, before recruiting students and putting the school on the Internet, we decided to pilot some materialand activities with our own two children, who as luck would have it, are close in age and have similareducational backgrounds.

There were several things we wanted to learn.

How do the children, both beginning computer users, use the computer?What types of activities (computer, reading, and writing) will be interesting, useful

and motivating for them?How can we integrate the computer literacy and language literacy to support one

another?

To find some answers to our questions, we prepared some trial lessons for the children. After eachlesson, the children wrote their comments about what was easy/difficult, interesting/not interesting, anduseful/not useful for them. We also kept notes about what seemed to interest or frustrate them, and abouthow they used the computer.

We started by having them do an English language Scavenger Hunt on the Internet. They put theiranswers directly into an MS Word answer sheet on the computer by typing in the correct word or bychanging font colors or underlining the best answer. This introduced the children to the Internet,particularly to Yahooligans (www.yahooligans.com), and to the toolbar on their computer, and helpedacquaint them with the skills they would need for the next activities.

The children agreed that they were interested in learning about space, so we then prepared somematerials and activities on the Solar System in each language. Space-related tasks included:

A bilingual introduction to the solar systemWeb-based readings in English and Japanese, accompanied by worksheets, word

searches, and crosswordsWeb based quiz in EnglishA posting to a Japanese Science web siteAn email based collaborative story in Japanese, in which we provided the children

with the first sentence of a story, and they took turns adding short paragraphsand graphics until the story was completed

An email based information gap activity in English, in which each child is lost onthe planet of its choice and the rest of us have to ask questions/follow theirclues to find them

From the children’s assessments of these activities, and our own observations, we offer thefollowing as points for others interested in online learning with children to consider.

Using the Computer

As we expected, the children were excited and motivated by learning to do simple things on the computer,such as changing font colors or typing in Internet addresses, but everything was slow at first. To get themused to using the computer, and to avoid frustration, we found that the following worked well:



TemplatesWith their writing activities, the children seemed to appreciate having some phrases or expressions thatthey could copy and paste into their writing as starters. This helped them with their language, and perhapsmore importantly, gave them a sense that they were not starting with a blank page. In addition to languagetemplates, we also prepared templates for the writing activities. This was easily done by putting severaltables (each with one row and two columns) on an MS word document. The children then inserted agraphic into one of the columns and put their text (the entry to the tandem story) into the other.

Computer-based worksheets and questionnairesThe children responded favorably to answering worksheets and questionnaires on the computer. Inaddition to giving them practice using the keyboard and the toolbar, it also meant that their work could beemailed to the other child (in the case of the questionnaire) or to one of us for checking and feedback

InstructionsWhile the worksheets worked well on the computer, the instructions did not. The children found itdifficult to move between the instructions and the Internet, and when it was necessary for them to readonline, preferred having the instructions on a hard copy. Also, things change on the Internet all the timeand what may be a featured article one week is in the archive section the next. Instructions need to beplanned around this.

ClipboardsIn doing the readings on Space, the children inevitably found other readings they wanted to print. To dealwith very long readings (more than 7 pages) we had the children download the interesting parts into atable on a clipboard. This was just an MS Word document with a table on it. The table had a space for thename and address of the web site, for any interesting graphics, and for the pertinent text to be copied into.In addition to saving on paper, keeping information on the clipboard helps the children learn to beselective about finding information on the Internet and makes the information available to them shouldthey need it for a report later.

Extra keyboarding practiceAt first keyboarding was painstakingly slow, and we worried that they would lose interest because offrustration. We had them practice using Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. They enjoyed it, and it seemed tomake keyboarding easier and faster.

Staying slose at hand while giving them a free handBoth children enjoyed the special attention they received when we piloted the materials. Particularlywhen they were doing activities on the computer, it was necessary to have an adult on hand for guidanceand support. On the other hand, while they wanted us right there, they were also clear in wanting to trythings on their own. In a few cases they actually surprised us by finding faster and easier ways of doingthings on the computer.

Interesting Activities

Types of interactionChildren responded that they most appreciated materials/activities in which they could interact:

with each other (sending the story back and forth or doing the information gap by email)with the computer (finding new things on the Internet, creating their story)with the ideas in the materials (particularly if material was on a topic they found very interesting

or if the material had some connection to other children in other parts of the world)



Audio/Video clipsWe asked the children to do a few readings where an audio or video clip was also on the site, as wethought this might lend an element of interest to the reading. However, the quality of the transmissionseemed to vary greatly between web sites. When transmission was good, the children liked having theaudio/video dimension. A few that worked well are mentioned below.

More English resources than Japanese on the InternetPartly because of kanji, and partly because English is used in so many countries, there is much morematerial on the Internet in English than Japanese that can be easily used for children of this age. However,the Japanese sites which are good for this age group are very good and there is some interesting materialfor Japanese FL learners available on the Internet. We list examples of both below.

Integrating Computer and Language Literacies

This initial piloting work has helped us to develop a framework (as outlined below) for integratingcomputer and language literacies in which, as the children become more skilled computer users, they willbe more able to use computers to develop their reading and writing. We hope that paying initially greaterattention to developing computer skills will lead to increased ability and autonomy on the computer,which will in turn enable them to do more interesting and diverse reading and writing activities.

In this prospective framework for integrating computer and language literacies,the children develop these skills: ...to be able to do these things:

Introductory Computer Skills: Intermediate Language Skills:

Keyboarding Writing poetry/haikuUsing the toolbar Responding to surveysUsing tables Writing short tandem storiesSimple navigating Writing short email messagesWeb searches Giving Feedback to other writersEmail basics Posting messages to bulletin boardsAdding graphics Completing computer-based worksheets

Intermediate Computer Skills: Intermediate Language Skills:

PowerPoint Creating quizzes and puzzlesMore extensive keyboarding Writing short research reports

Developing surveysDoing longer pieces of creative writing

Advanced Computer Skills: Advanced Language Skills:

Web Publishing Writing and editing newspaper storiesWriting longer research reports

Problems and Possible Solutions

While we found that the children generally responded well to collaborative, computer-based learning,three problems emerged:

the children were sometimes bored with some of the reading activities that they feltwere too much like schoolwork;



they wanted ‘live’ interaction with each other;they were frustrated when keyboarding longer pieces.

There are some possible solutions to these problems. To make the activities more interesting, and togive the children more of a say in what they are reading and writing, one idea might be to make theprogram more product-oriented. The children could, for example, work together to make an onlinebilingual student newspaper or magazine. The second issue, the children’s desire for more interactionmight be addressed by adding videoconferencing, and while the children would no doubt be delighted justto chat, it might be particularly useful if the children were to have a shared activity or task on theircomputer screens. Finally, giving the children a choice between keyboarding and scanning handwrittenwork might be a way to alleviate the frustration they experience keyboarding longer pieces of writing.

Japanese Language Resources

Various TopicsA Science Room for Everyone (highly recommended)

http://133.96.51.58/rika.htmEcoland

http://www.chuden.co.jp/topics/kankyo/ecoland/index.htmlMath Challenge

http://www.sansu.org/Internet Animal Dictionary

http://www.knowledgelink.co.jp/services/index.htmlGakken Science Kids

http://kids.gakken.co.jp/kagaku/index.htmlDai Nippon Tosho

http://www.dainippon-tosho.co.jp/Asahi Newspaper for Children

http://www.wbs.ne.jp/yaizu/kids/index.htmMainichi Newspaper for Children

http://www.mainichi.co.jp/eye/school/index.html

Language DevelopmentRikai.com - Japanese English Translator (highly recommended)

http://www.rikai.com/cgi-bin/HomePage.pl?Language=EnThe Kanji SITE Kanji Self-Indulgent Tripe Extravaganza (highly recommended)

http://www.kanjisite.com/Nihongo Web (highly recommended)

http://www.nihongoweb.com/Kanji Step - Japanese Language Resource Center

http://www.kanjistep.com/en/misc/frmsrc9.htmlDictation Quizzes for Japanese Speech

http://sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/sp/lesson/j/index.htmlJapanese Language and Culture Network

http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/index.htmlKeiko Schnieder’s Bookmarks

http://www.sabotenweb.com/bookmarks/Japanese Language Reading Tutorial System

http://language.tiu.ac.jp/http://www.insc.tohoku.ac.jp/uehara/wjlp-home.html



Study Aids from the Japanese Department at Dartmouthhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~introjpn/study_aid.html

Multicultural CommunicationI*EARN Japan - International Education and Resource Center Japan (highly

recommended)http://jearn.kyushu-id.ac.jp/

Multilingual ResourcesNaruhodo Mori - Science Experiments at Home (Japanese, English, French) (highly

recommended)http://member.nifty.ne.jp/kume/indexj.html

UNICEF Voices of Youth (English, French, Spanish)http://www.unicef.org/voy/

Kokusai Koryu Kid’s Space (Japanese, English)http://www.kids-space.org/indexJ.html

English Language Resources

Multicultural CommunicationI*EARN - International Education and Resource Center (highly recommended)

http://www.iearn.org/Orillas - An International, multilingual network for collaborative and critical inquiry

(highly recommended)http://www.orillas.org/welcomee.html

Global Schoolhouse.http://www.lightspan.comExamples of projects that are suitable for primary school age children

.Reading and WritingGlobal Issues for Learners of English (highly recommended)

http://www2.gol.com/users/bobkeim/contents.htmlHUT Internet Writing Project.

http://www.hut.fi/~rvilmi/Project/ (highly recommended)SL-LISTS: INTERNATIONAL EFL/ESL EMAIL STUDENT DISCUSSION LISTS

(highly recommended)http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/education/sl/sl.html

Story Trainhttp://storytrain.kids-space.org/main/start.htmlChildren from different countries collaborate on stories.

Teaching Materials (puzzles, lesson plans, templates, and other resources)

Houghton Mifflin Education Place (highly recommended)http://www.eduplace.com/search/activity.html

P I Z ZA Z !... People Interested in Zippy and ZAny Zcribbling (highly recommended)http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~leslieob/pizzaz.html

Education & Computer Connectionhttp://www.nvo.com/ecnewletter/.

Discovery School’s Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educatorshttp://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/



Discovery School’s Puzzlemakerhttp://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/chooseapuzzle.html

TECH-NIQUES, Ready-To-Use Activities for Language and Internet Technologyhttp://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~leslieob/tech-niques.html

Technology Tips of the Month from the English Language Institutehttp://www.orst.edu/dept/eli/prevtips.html

Science Resources

Rader’s Kapili (highly recommended)http://www.kapili.com/

Brain POP (highly recommended for video)http://www.brainpop.com/

Harcourt School Publishers (highly recommended for video)http://www.harcourtschool.com/articles/video_updates/

Everyday Science (highly recommended for audio)http://www.everydayscience.org/index2.htm

NPR’s Science Friday Kids’ Connectionhttp://www.npr.org/programs/sfkids/.

BBChttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/

Discovery Onlinehttp://www.discovery.com/

National Geographichttp://www.nationalgeographic.com/index.html

National Geographic Kidshttp://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/

.Creative Resources (stories, poetry, mysteries)

ERIC CHILDREN’S AND ADOLESCENT LITERATURE RESOURCEShttp://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/comatt/ghome.html

Follow the Children Literature Online link to the Online Children’s Stories section,where some links to sites we like include:

Myths and Fables from Around the World (highly recommended)Candlelight StoriesKidlit Short StoriesNursery Rhymes and Songs of All NationsPoetry CornerOnline Children’s LiteratureOnline Children’s Stories

http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/stories.htmlParents and Children Together Online

http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/fl/pcto/menu.htmlMystery Net’s The Case

http://www.mysterynet.com/thecase/see/



References

A Science Room for Everyone. Available: <http://133.96.51.58/rika.htm>; Visited: November 20, 2000.

Cummins, J. & Sayers, D. (1996). Brave new schools: Challenging cultural illiteracy through globallearning networks. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Global Issues for Learners of English. Available: <http://www2.gol.com/users/bobkeim/contents.html>;Visited December 3, 2000.

Robb, T. (1996). Email keypals for language fluency. Foreign Language Notes, 38 (3), 8-10. Available:<http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~trobb/keypals.html>; Visited October 5, 2000.

Vilmi, R. (2000). HUT Internet Writing Project. Available: < http://www.hut.fi/~rvilmi/Project/>; Visited:March 12, 2000.

We are planning an online collaborative reading and writing program for Japanese/English bilingualchildren (ages 8 – 11) starting September 2001. Please email Andrea Carlson at [email protected] fordetails, or visit www.bilingualkids.net



本論では２００２年より日本の小学校で行われることになる英語の授業にむけて、コミュニケーションを重視しながらE F L むけに改定したフォニックスのカリキュラムを導入する方法を紹介します。英語をはじめて学ぶ日本人にカタカナで英語を導入するのではなく、アルファベットに対応する子音や母音を教えるために、まずフォニックスを導入することが重要です。フォニックスの導入は、読解能力だけではなく、コミュニケーション能力を高めるためにも効果的なのです。日本語の語彙の中に取り込まれているカタカナ英語を正しい英語に直す技術も紹介します。また、読み書きの知識は、ノートをとったり、復習したり、内容を説明したりする時に有用です。本論の中で具体的な授業の進め方を詳細にわたって説明します。コミュニケーションとフォニックスによる教授法を取り混ぜた、総合的なアプローχが紹介されます。オーラル・コミュニケーションの練習をしながら、文法、語彙及びフォニックスを学んでいく方法をとります。

Under the designation of “integrative learning” (総合的な学習), it isbeing proposed that English (and other subjects related to broadeninginternational perspectives) be taught in public elementary schools inJapan from the year 2002. Although teachers and administrators, withoutbeing given any particular training or textbooks, are not expected tomake many sweeping changes in most localities in Japan at the start ofthis new curriculum, it is not too early to begin to propose what might be

possible to achieve in the near future with enthusiastic andwell trained teachers.

To accommodate this new curriculum,alongside of speaking and listening

emphasis, this paper introducescomponents of and rationale for

teaching phonic rules and readingsusing an English-as-a-Foreign-

Language (EFL) approach thatmodifies various aspects ofphonics instruction programsoriginally designed for nativespeakers of English. Amongmany educators andcurriculum writers in Japan,a certain taboo has been

associated with theseupcoming 2002 proposals

regarding the inclusion ofreading and writing instruction

in the English curriculum forelementary school children. An

attitude of avoidance of literacyinstruction has come about partly due

to the over-emphasis in schools ongrammar translation and a fear that entrance-

examination focused English instruction willtrickle down to elementary school curriculums. It is

proposed here that instead of similarly creating an imbalanced,incomplete curriculum at the elementary level, that no single aspectshould be intentionally omitted in English instruction throughout theentire process; instead it should be holistic and creative.

Laurel D. KamadaKyoto Sangyo University

ElementarySchool EFL

in 2002: The Role ofPhonics in Achieving

Fluency


Why Promote Phonics for Japanese EFL Learners?

Phonic knowledge of letters and auditory ability to discriminate between phonemes has been shown tocontribute significantly to native English speakers’ reading ability (Adams, 1995). It is felt that phonicsinstruction would also aide Japanese EFL learners not only in reading fluency, but also more importantlyin speaking ability. While it is not being proposed that EFL learners should be made to keep pace with theliteracy development of native English speakers, it is felt that one of the best ways to clarify and note thevarious sounds of English is to introduce the basics of writing by using phonics. Here, going fromphonetic knowledge to speech instead of the contrary, a reversed approach is necessitated when teachingphonics to EFL students.

While Long (1993) points out that the relationship between age-of onset (AO) of foreign languagelearning and success in the acquisition of that language may not be a linear one, he also concedes thatthere is considerable evidence that this AO is a “robust predictor of their long-term success in thatlanguage, particularly as to whether or not they can reach native-like abilities in a L2 (197).” Althoughnot conclusive according to Hoffman (1991), the popular impression is that children are good at acquiringa native-like accent in a second language and that they may have a special facility no longer available toadults for neuro muscular patterns during which it is easy to acquire features of pronunciation. Hoffman(1991) states that what is more generally accepted are the certain qualities that children possess that favorL2 acquisition, “they make good mimics, they lack some of the inhibitions that get in the way of manyadult language learners, and they have a greater capacity for learning by playing (37).” Taking this all intoaccount, it is felt that English pronunciation aided by phonics needs to be introduced and practiced fromearly elementary school in order for learners to advance to a high level of English speaking accuracy—which should be the goal in any elementary school foreign language program.

Furthermore, phonics literacy knowledge allows for a convenient written format to rely on whenreviewing, taking notes, and making references. Teachers don’t have to always rely on pictures; withliteracy knowledge, learners can understand words written on the board or they can use or create theirown text.

Rendering Katakana Loan Words Back into English

A vast already known English vocabulary can become immediately available by teaching Japanese EFLlearners techniques for rendering sounds back into English of those loan words which have alreadybecome a part of the Japanese language and orthographed into katakana. Also, giving students afoundation for orally and visually producing proper English pronunciation based on a phonics formatfrom the start would provide an alternative to having to use this katakana syllabary which brings with itflawed Japanized English pronunciation. I am, however, not going so far as to propose that instructorsshould try to teach EFL learners to keep pace with the literacy development of native English speakers.

The Japanese language already has at is disposal, thousands of Japanized English words. Listed inIshiwata’s 1995 Gairaigo Jiten (Foreign Loanword Dictionary), are some 40,000 words of which the vastmajority of entries are from English loan words which have become a part of the Japanese language. Theentire Japanese speaking population from very young children to senior citizens are already regularlyusing thousands of Japanized borrowed English words and phrases when speaking Japanese, such as:Let’s go, stop, cornflake, oatmeal, lunch, comic, thank you very much, driver, lemon, lady, wool. Theproblem with the use of these vocabulary words and phrases is that they are spoken in Japanesepronunciation and intonation often making them unintelligible to native English speakers. There are threebasic features of katakana-English renderings that Japanese EFL learners need to be mademetalinguistically aware of in order to utilize this resource. These are as follows: 1. final consonant stops,2. English consonants and consonant blends, and 3. vowel and vowel-like changes.

Final Consonant StopsEnglish words with final consonants at the end of words as well as the end of syllables are rendered intothe Japanese sound system when formed into loanwords by adding a vowel to the ending consonant (withthe exception of ‘n’): comment = comento; comic = kommiku; conflake = konfureeku; oatmeal =

Kamada: Elementary School EFL in 2002


ootomeeru; rank = ranku. Students need to practice consonant stops by first of all becoming aware ofspellings of such words and then practicing how to stop and to creatively allow non-Japanese wordendings.

English Consonants and Consonant Blends Not Contained in JapaneseIn particular there are three main English problem consonants for Japanese speakers: v, l, and th. ForJapanese speakers ‘v’ becomes ‘b’ (very = bery; driver = doraibaa; vitamin = bitamin); ‘l’ becomessomething close to ‘r’ (loose = ruuzu; lemon = remon; lady = redii) , and ‘th’ becomes ‘s’ (thanks =sankusu, three = surii, bath = baasu ). Here students need to become aware of and visualize the differencein the formation of the mouth and tongue and then develop the proper muscles. The ‘l’ is generallyformed with the mouth open and the tongue behind the front teeth whereas the ‘r’ is generally a rounded,puckered mouth. The ‘v’ is generally formed with the bottom lip tucked behind the upper teeth before itasperates outwards, whereas the ‘b’ is generally formed with the lips closed and pursed. The ‘th,’ which issometimes aspirated and sometimes not, is usually formed with the tongue slightly protruding frombetween slightly closed teeth with the aspiration going up over the tongue, whereas the ‘s’ is usuallyformed with the tongue resting in the bottom of the mouth behind the teeth, not between them.

Vowel and Vowel-like Changes in SoundsSome English phonemes become changed altogether to other phonemes when rendered into Japanese. Anexample of this is when the English ‘fu’ becomes hu (food = huudo) and the English ‘wo’ becomes uu(wool = uuru).

The same katakana readings for two different English wordsAnother problem occurs when more than two or more English words get rendered into the same katakanareadings as a result of both vowel and consonant changes in the Japanese renditions. Some examples areas follows: ‘lunch’ and ‘launch’ both are denoted as ranchi,; ‘bus’ and ‘bath’ are baasu; ‘lever’ and ‘liver’are rebaa; ‘lamp’ and ‘ramp’ are rampu.

From Start to Fluent Talk and Reading

It is felt that of a 45 minute class period, 30 minutes should be spent in communication with studentsfacing each other in a circle (circle talk) in chairs without desks (or sitting on the floor). The remaining 15minutes should be devoted to phonics, although the two should be integrated. In the first lesson, in thecircle, it is suggested that the teacher turn and speak to the first child to her left, and say, for example,“Hi. I’m Mrs. Kamada,” using gestures. Then the teacher should continue, with the related question,“What’s your name?” If the child can not answer, the teacher could offer prompts or provide the correctresponse and elicit the child to repeat. Then the teacher should elicit the same child to say the samequestion to the next child on the left. For the first round, the teacher should model the most simplifiedanswer, “Mrs. Kamada.” For the second round the teacher should model a more complete sentence, “Myname is Mrs. Kamada.” Continue around the circle several times until all students can say the answer andquestion with ease. The teacher can distribute already prepared name cards to be worn Some questionswill require many rounds (R), for example, How many people are there in your family? R1: “five people;”R2: “There are five people;” R3:”five people in my family;”R4: “There are five people in my family. “Ifthe class is large, the teacher could sit students in two or three circles and circulate to monitor betweencircles.

The teacher should not expect the children to say it correctly at first; it doesn’t need to be perfect. Itis alright to let young learners stumble and try. At first, they just need to know how to say the questionand their own answer, such as the kind of fruit that they like. Each subsequent lesson would begin withreview and concentrate much time on sitting in the circle and communicating. The most common types ofvocabulary items, for example common fruits, should be already prepared on word/picture cards, butseveral blank cards and pens should be brought to class in order to quickly sketch obscure vocabularyitems that students may suggest.



Grammar should not be explicitly taught but should be practiced in a conversational mannerthrough repeated and natural use of the language. It is felt that students will acquire correct use of thegrammar points without a lot of explanation and rule awareness at this early stage. Daily homeworkassignments should be simple letter tracing that begin as class work and can be completed as simplehomework. Later writing practice can include writing short three-letter words on prints which haveaccompanying pictures to indicate meaning. The teacher should use English speaking during class asmuch as possible, except where necessary to expedite understanding of vocabulary items.

The total of English sounds need to be introduced and reinforced to Japanese speakers, but in asimplified approach. Several people have already attempted to categorize the totality of English sounds.For one, Gategno (1977) devised a very intricate and elaborate color-coded English sound-chart for EFL/ESL learners, but it requires a lot of time and effort in memorizing the color-sound relationships. Dickson(1972), on the other hand, devised a very simple method for understanding the basics of English soundsrelated to phonic reading, but it was aimed at first grade native English speakers to aid in reading and notto learners of English as a foreign or second language. Keeping in mind the notion of simplicity whiletargeting Japanese EFL children beginner learners, a summary of a curriculum of the first 25 lessons isproposed below.

Lessons 1 – 5

The first five lessons should be taught in a progressive manner with each lesson starting with a review ofthe previous lesson. Following is a summary of the two component parts: circle talk and phonics.

Circle Talk: IntroductionExamples of “circle talk” questions (using the technique explained above) are as follows: What’s yourname? How old are you? Where do you live? What fruits do you like? What animals do you like? Whatcolor is your shirt (dress)? What color are your socks? What’s your favorite vegetable? What is yourfavorite snack? Without going into detailed explanation, teachers should simply introduce differencesbetween singular and plural forms: dog—dogs; cat—cats, etc. Instruct students to use the plural form byadding ‘s’. It is also not necessary to explain the plural pronoun/verb complements in detail. (What coloris your dress? What color are your socks? My dress is red. My socks are blue.) Just briefly mention thatthe second sentence uses are instead of is because it refers to more than one thing. More practice willfollow later.

Phonics: The ABC’sSay the alphabet names while pointing to already prepared alphabet upper and lower case letters postedon the wall and elicit students to repeat. Play an audio tape of the ABC song while pointing to the letters.Play the tape several times and elicit students to repeat. This should not be too difficult as most Japaneseelementary school children today already know the alphabet song. Draw students’ attention to the vowelletters: a-e-i-o-u and also the remaining consonants. Teach the following words and their meanings:vowel, vowels, consonant, consonants.

Teach the most common letter sounds for each letter, eliciting repetition. As much as possible,examples of vocabulary words provided for all of the initial letter sounds from A to Z should be wordsthat the children are more likely to already know either through classroom work or familiar JapanizedEnglish loan words, for example: a is for ‘apple,’ b is for ‘ball,’ c is for ‘candy,’ etc. Using word cards,practice short vowel sounds with initial vowel words (a = ‘apple, ant;’ e: = ‘elephant, egg;’ i: = ‘insect,ink;’ o: = ‘octopus, otter;’ u: = ‘umbrella, uncle’). Later practice long vowel sound words: (a = ‘ape,apron;’ e = ‘eagle, eel;’ i = ‘ice;’ o = ‘ocean, oats;’ u = ‘unicorn, universe.’). Teach curved line symbol andstraight line symbol over vowels to indicate short and long vowel sounds respectively.

Use name cards to have students write their names several times. Reinforce proper Englishpronunciation. This letter-sound drill should be reinforced and reviewed for many subsequent lessons.Have students move to desks to begin tracing capital letters in the last few minutes of the period. Laterhave learners trace lower case letters.



Lessons 6 – 10

As with lessons, 6 –10, again continue to review with each lesson. Teachers should be sure that theyemphasize the importance of not having to be perfect in order to communicate. At this stage, emphasizecommunication over form.

Circle TalkHow many people in your family? How many brothers and sisters do you have? How many pets do youhave? How many onigiri can you eat? How many pets do you have? How tall are you? How much do youweigh? How many brothers do you have? How many sisters do you have? How many people in yourfamily? How many windows in this class? How many people in this class? How many girls in this class?

Phonics: Consonant and Simple Vowel blends Combine consonants with vowels to create blend sounds. Refer to Table 1 with A-E-I-O-U on the leftcolumn and consonants across the top. Point to the table and pronounce the sounds with studentsrepeating. This drill should continue for several lessons. For writing, trace long vowel words: a: ‘ape,’ e:‘eleven,’ i: ‘ice,’ o: ‘ocean,’ u: ‘unicorn,’ etc. After having students practice by looking, reading, repeatingafter you, have students practice saying the sounds of the chart by only seeing the skeleton of the chart—the consonants on the upper horizontal line and the vowels on the left vertical column.

Next move on to initial common consonant blends with vowels (Table 2) and emphasize sounds ofthe consonant blends such as bl, br, ch, cr, etc. as above. Finally drill common word ending blends ofvowels with final consonants (Table 3). Later drill sounds of other vowel combinations and blend theminto only those words which the students already know: ou, oul, or, ei, oi, iou, ea, our, er, eau, oy, ai, oa,aw au, ow, ay, owe, oo, ar, ee, ui, oir, are.

Lessons 11-15

Continue to elicit students’ understanding of words before asking them to produce a word verbally. Oneway to achieve this is to ask students to respond to your commands not with words, but with actions andpantomime to communicate their understanding.

Circle Talk.Show word cards (nose, rose, hose) and say: “Point to the nose.” (Students point to the nose card.)Teacher says, “Point to your nose.” They point to their own nose. The teacher says, “Point to my nose.”Students point to the teacher’s nose. Students are then given tissue paper and commanded, “Blow yournose.” The teacher models blowing her nose; students mimic. Other uses of blow are introduced, as inwind, and blowing out a candle. Likewise, also explain: grow (a flower or person growing); flow (flow ofwater).

Phonics: Some Basic RulesIntroduce only two basic phonetic rules to assist EFL learners in reading and pronunciation ability usingexamples. The two are as follows:

1. For a vowel + consonant + ‘e’ combination at the end of words, the first vowel hasa long vowel sound and the final “e” is silent. (Examples: a = ‘cake, snake;’ e =‘scene, complete;’ i = ‘rice, ice;’ o = ‘rose, nose, hose’; u = ‘prune, mule’)

2. For two vowels together, the first one generally has a long vowel sound, the secondvowel is silent. (Examples: ea = ‘read, flea,;’ oa = ‘boat, goat;’ ai = ‘rain, nail.’).This rule can also be extended to include the situation of when there are two e’stogether (ee) making a long “e” sound. (Examples: ee = see, sleep, peek, tree,sweet, creep, feet, seen.)



Lessons 16-20

Preparation for reading of the first very short reader (in future lessons) will begin now. In order to preparestudents for a successful and rewarding experience reading their first English book, they must first learnthe meanings and pronunciations of all the words.

Circle talk: Long “o” StoryAsk questions of time: What time do you get up in the morning? Later, continue by asking: What time doyou go to bed? What time does he/she go to bed? Give an answer prompt in the forth round: I go to bed atten. What time do you go to bed? A students should answer, for example, “I go to bed at nine.” Teachershould then model, “He goes to bed at nine,” turning to next student, “I go to bed at ten.” The next studentshould continue, “She goes to bed at nine. I go to bed at eight.” (Tell students that with he/she, in theanswer, go changes to goes. No other explanation is necessary at this time.)

Phonics. The first very short reader, “Long “O” Story: Roses Grow”(See Appendix A). In order to introduce a short reader, first students need to review all vocabulary wordscontained in it (a rose/roses, a nose/noses, a hose/hoses, no/not, can, go/goes, blow/blows, flow/flows,grow/grows). It is felt that at this stage it is NOT necessary to go into detail concerning the two majorgrammar points which come up: 1.) plural “s”, and 2.) third person pronoun (he, she, it) and verbcomplement (blow/blows, flow/flows; grow/grows), unless students have specific questions.

Lessons 21-25

Learners are now ready to begin to read a whole story. Make a picture for each sentence of the story sothat it is like a book with about twelve pages (See Appendix A). The goal here is for the learners to feelthe joy of the accomplishment of being able to read their first English book.

Circle Talk and Phonics Integrated.Show pictures (a hose, a rose, a nose) and ask: “What is this?” Elicit, “This is a hose.” Continuing, thenext student should choose one card randomly to ask the next student. Later, ask students to repeat andmemorize the first half of the story without reading it yet (Appendix A). Students should repeat after theteacher while looking at pictures. Have students recite it orally from memory as a group and then ask forindividual volunteers. After it is totally memorized, have students look at the written text and have themread it as a class several times at first. Next, ask individual students to volunteer to read it. Having recitedit from memory, it should be very easy to read. It can also be a writing drill. Finally, have students recitethe whole story (from memory) while acting it out with puppets or cards.

Conclusion

Without going deeply into grammatical rules and toiling over direct translations, elementary students cangain a lot from very basic literacy knowledge. By knowing even just the basics about letters and Englishwriting, learners establish a base for understanding the sound system of English through phonics. Literacyknowledge for EFL learners becomes very effective in NOT ONLY teaching basic reading skills, but alsoand more importantly, in teaching them how to correctly pronounce and understand what they read andwhat they say. Likewise, listening comprehension will in turn be automatically enhanced.


References

Adams, M. J. (1995). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about Print. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.TPress.

Dickson, S. (1972). Sing, Spell, Read and Write. St. Petersburg:International Learning Systems of NorthAmerica, Inc.,.

Gategno, C.(1977). ENGLISH sound-Color Fidel Chart. USA: Educational Solutions, Inc.

Hoffman, C. (1991). An Introduction to Bilingualism. NY: Longman.

Ishiwata. T. (1991) Gairaigo Jiten. Tokyo:Tokyodou Shuppan

Kuno, Y. (November, 2000). Speech presented at Teaching Children Colloquium: The Dawn of EnglishEducation in Japanese Public Elementary Schools. JALT 2000 International Conference, Shizuoka.[Original paper appeared in Kyouiku Mondai Kenkyuu (3/97), Saikan 52.]

Long, M. H. (1991). Second language acquisition as a function of age: research findings and methodologicalissues. In Progression & Regression in Language, K. Hyltenstam, Ed. Cambridge: CUP.

Table 1: Personal pronoun positions and verb complements

# 1 2+1. I (grow, go) 1. we (grow, go)

2. you (grow, go) 2. you (all) (grow, go)

3. he, she, it (grows, goes) 3. they (grow, go)a rose (grows, goes) roses (grow, go)a hose (grows, goes) hoses (flow, go)a nose (grows, goes) noses (blow, go)

Table 2: Initial Consonants with Vowels

b c/k d f g h j l m n p r s t v w y z

A: ba, ca/ka, da, fa, ga, ha, ja, la, ma, na, pa, ra, sa, ta, va, wa, ya. zaE: be, ce/ke, de, fe, ge, he, je, le, me, ne, pe, re, se, te, ve, we, ye, zeI: bi, ci/ki, di, fi, gi, hi, ji, li, mi, ni, pi, ri, si, ti, vi, wi, yi, ziO: bo, co/ko, do, fo, go, ho, jo, lo, mo no, po, ro, so, to, vo, wo, yo, zoU: bu, cu/ku, du, fu, gu, hu, ju, lu, mu, nu, pu, ru, su, tu, vu, wu, yu, zu

Table 3: Initial Common Consonant Blends with Vowels

bl br ch cl cr dr fl fr gl gr pl pr sc scr sh sk sl

A: bla Bra cha cla cra dra fla fra gla gra pla pra sca scra sha ska slaE: ble bre che cle cre dre fle fre gle gre ple pre sce scre she ske sleI: bli bri chi cli cri dri fli fri gli gre pli pri sci scri shi ski sliO: blo bro cho clo cro dro flo fro glo gro plo pro sco scro sho sko sloU: blu bru chu clu cru dru flu fru glu gru plu pru scu scru shu sku slu



Table 3 (continued)

sp sn sr st str sw th tr wh wrspa sna sra sta stra swa tha tra wha wraspe sne sre ste stre swe the tre whe wrespi sni sri sti stri swi thi tri whi wrispo sno sro sto stro swo tho tro who wrospu snu sru stu stru swu thu tru whu wru

Table 4: Common Word Endings: Vowels with Final Consonants

b ck d f g k l lk ll m n p r rch rk s st t w x

A: ab ack ad af ag ak al alk all am an ap ar arch ark as ast at aw axE: eb eck ed ef eg ek el elk ell em en ep er erch erk es est et ew exI: ib ick id if ig ik il ilk ill im in ip ir irch irk is ist it iw ixO: ob ock od of og ok ol olk oll om on op or orch ork os ost ot ow oxU: ub uck ud uf ug uk ul ulk ull um un up ur urch urk us ust ut uw ux

Appendix A

Long "O" Story/Poem: Roses Grow

Rose, rose. A rose goes home.No, no. A rose can not go home.You go home.

Hose. Hose. A hose goes home.No, no. A hose can not go home.I go home.

Nose, nose. A nose goes home.No, no. A nose can not go home.We go home.

Roses do not go. Roses grow.Hoses do not go. Hoses flow.Noses do not go. Noses blow.



Language activities often weigh students down with an expectation tofluency and may be questionable in terms of language acquisition andappropriateness for Japanese classrooms. This paper introduces two pair-work activities which aim to enjoyably raise students’ consciousness ofgrammar forms specified in the curriculum. With the main focus takenoff speaking drills, students can support each other in their processing oftarget grammar forms. As the focus is tightly delineated, more studentscan take an active role in class. In this way, it will be suggested thatdeeper, cognitive processing of language can more readily take place.Students can gain much satisfaction from completing these carefullyweighted activities and so it is claimed that students’ motivation isincreased.

現在日本の英語授業で行われている言語活動の多くは、学習者が流暢な英語の話し手になることを目指している。しかしそれらの活動は、言語学習の焦点、そして日本の教室環境を考えると大きな疑問を抱かざるをえない。

本論は、導入される文法項目に対する意味を、楽しみながら高めることが出来る二種類のペアワーク提案する。単なるスピーキングドリルにとどめないように工夫することにより、学習者は新出文法項目の処理に向けてお互いに助け合いながら学習に取り組むことが出来る。焦点がはっきりしているため、教室内のより多くの学習者が積極的に取り組むことが出来

る。この活動を行うことにより、学習者の外国語認知処理が促進されることは間違いない。本論で紹介

される適切にコントロルされた活動に従事することにより、学習者はより大きな満足感

を得ることが出来、英語学習動機付けが高まるであろう。

Introduction

The diversity of literature onthe language acquisitionindicates the potential effectof different teachingmethodologies and learningstyles. In this paper, I willintroduce two distinct pair

activities that aim to raiselearners’ consciousness of

specified grammar structuresin the junior high curriculum.

Both activities were used in myclassroom, which included a high

proportion of underachievingstudents. As well as being helpful in

creating a positive learning environmentfor students across the ability range, both

find justification in SLA literature. In the first, afocus-on-meaning “hangman” activity, students say

carefully prepared definitions of the quiz word to their partners to try tohelp them solve the puzzle. The context of this exercise is memorizingtextbook vocabulary. In the second, a more apparent focus-on-formgrammatical orientation is used in a comprehension reading activity in

David CoulsonNiigata Women’s College

MotivatingJunior High School

Students to ParticipateThrough DirectedConsciousness-

Raising Activities


which learners dictate comprehension questions to each other and then cooperate to produce the correctanswer, which contained a target grammar structure. The context here was preparing students for thereading section of the high school entrance examination. This cooperation included students engaging inmetatalk about the language itself.

So, in both cases, the emphasis is student interaction leading to a sense of authentic learning, whichI assert, is motivating. The exercises do not demand fluent speech or drilling of target forms.

Certainly, managing classes of mixed-ability junior high school students requires a lot of creativityin materials design. I found that absorbing, puzzle-like activities with the language focus woven in ratherthan explicitly stated can create a strong sense of achievement for all students. Such activities reveal to aswide a spectrum of students as possible that they are capable of processing some of the tougher grammarstructures that are required by the curriculum.

Both the activities I present take an analytic rather than synthetic approach to materials design. Thatis, my position as a teacher-researcher is based on a general belief in the value of communicativeactivities that promote authentic communication between students. Grammatical consciousness raising,though integral to my purposes, is very much the secondary concern. Under this broad approach, I havefound that alternating between focus-on-meaning activities and slightly more academic focus-on-formactivities achieved a workable balance. On the one hand I gave students a day-off from serious study withthe ‘hangman’-type activities, and on the other, reminded them that my lessons had a practical relevanceto the curriculum (and their high school entrance examinations).

It is not my purpose in this paper to discuss the respective merits of the two exercise types inacquisition terms, but on motivation and appropriateness terms.

Background and Theory

Some researchers e.g. (Long, Crookes, 1992) claim that the careful control of language, whether overt ornot, has no basis in acquisition theory and that such language presented is unnatural. Conversely, otherresearchers e.g.(Davies,1994)(Shortall, 1999) claim that carefully adjusted and simplified language givesstudents more chances to have meaningful interaction with language. Davies writes, “Everything thelearners understands is authentic.It is the teacher who simplifies, the learner who authenticates” (p.196).Be that as it may, students in junior high school receive much explicit instruction in English grammarrules in regular English classes yet often lack the ability to use this declarative knowledge in anautonomous, fluent way. It has been pointed out that this may be due to students often not having achance to pass through the necessary intermediary stage of proceduralization (DeKayser, p.49), wherelearners can resort to their explicit knowledge as they attempt to engage in the target language(procedure). Repeated chances to go through this process to the ultimate, ideal stage of automization arenecessary. Even if they never attain fluency, it is still contingent to traverse this stage, and expectinglearners to jump directly to even quite simple fluency exercises may leave students with a sense ofdisempowerment. Thus, analytic materials which help close the gap between explicit knowledge andincreasingly automatic knowledge are highly appropriate for students who may lack the resources toparticipate in fluency activities. Holliday (p.165) asserts that, “the communicative approach canincorporate the cognitive teaching of grammar..”

I wanted students to appreciate that the lessons that were offered in my classes were constructivelysupportive of the grammar teaching that was done in their regular English classes, as well as giving thema chance to engage in speaking activities. I find that sometimes lower level students appear to considermaterials which run parallel to the curriculum as rather peripheral, and one Japan-based researcher evencalls many communicative activities trivial (Fotos, 1994, p.324). I try to avoid the expectation for allstudents to produce fluent English (which can easily lead to a sense of frustration), instead devisingactivities where students communicate, and thereby support and confirm their partners intuitions, aboutthe target language. Swain (1998, p.69) postulates that “metatalk—in the context of making meaning—may well serve the function of deepening the students awareness of forms and rules.” One way suchmetatalk can be achieved is through cooperative puzzles.

Coulson: Motivating Junior High School Students to Participate...


‘Cooperative Word Games’

The first such task type activity that I devised was a variation of the old word-spelling game, hangman(Appendix 1). Although the expectation to oral fluency is limited, students do interact to save theirpartner, rather than the traditional format in which there is a clear sense of failing. From the students’point of view, the purpose of the exercise is to review textbook vocabulary items. From another, deeperpedagogic perspective, I hoped that the language of the definitions of the target-word which the studentssay to help save each other and solve the puzzle would give students unobtrusive, even subconscious,practice in the target structure. In the case I present, the definition of the word telephone, for example, iscarefully constructed around the relative clause structure. Of course, Krashen (1982) claimed thatcomprehensible input is sufficient for students to begin noticing aspects of language, and at least by thisstandard, I felt it was very desirable to have students providing this kind of input to each other, throughthe playful exchange of definitions. Further, the students were not told at the beginning of each lessonwhat the packaged grammar focus was. Simply, due to the exercise being fun, the students forgot eachtime to look further than the meaning, which they exchanged with great verve as they tried to solve thepuzzle. The simple comment to make on this methodology was that most students actually managed tounderstand the definition (surprisingly well), as proven by the fact the definition in many cases allowedthem to immediately crack the puzzle, thus fulfilling the definition of comprehensible.

Explanation of Procedure

The pair work sheetsare distributed to students who make pairs. Each student takes it in turn to do thepuzzle while the other gives the answer yes or no to each letter suggested, and reads out the definition ofthe target vocabulary item half way through the round. This happens when one student has filled in thedotted-line stick figure to the head, which is the ‘danger’ stage. Then the student is allowed to ask thepartner for the definition by saying “What does that mean?” This is the major difference from the originalformat of the game; students win when they complete the puzzle, rather than fail when they do notcomplete it. Interestingly and encouragingly, students tend not to translate the definition but read it withincreasing insistence as they try to make the partner understand the definition. As we know, it cansometimes take two or three repetitions of a phrase for comprehension to occur, and in this instance it isoccurring completely naturally in the relatively stress-free environment of student-student interaction. Ican report the look of satisfaction on most of my students’ faces first when they finish the puzzle andsecond when they realize exactly the nature of what they have achieved. This is what I refer to asmeaningful interaction. The grammar focus (here, relative clause) is contextualized in the pursuit ofachieving a real goal and so the language is processed at a deeper level. In this way, students areauthentically ‘communicating’, rather than doing a communicative task. Moreover, understanding therelative clause is at once critical and incidental to staying alive.

Of course, the complexity of the target form can be carefully controlled to match the overall abilityof the class members. In the present example of relative clauses, I purposefully selected only the two leastcomplex subject (SU) and direct object (DO) types from the “noun phrase accessibility hierarchy.”(Lightbown, p185) This was to maximize the chance for students to have the best chance of being able tounderstand the definition.

In this particular case many if not most students, in perhaps a rarer moment of insight, were able toquickly associate the definition spoken by their partner to the word they had studied before.

As for the act of consciousness raising itself, after the task, I asked students what they thought theobject of the lesson had been, and despite four rounds of the quiz for each student, many had notexplicitly noticed the presence of the repeated grammar form. Upon having it pointed out, many studentsshowed an expression of mild surprise that they had apparently so effortlessly processed “difficult”grammar without even noticing it.

I felt that at this juncture many of the students may have overcome one of the principle affectivefactors constraining students, namely a stubborn lack of self-belief and confidence, over and abovewhatever degree of actual acquisition may have occurred during the activity itself. It is this which I positas motivating.



Directed Pair-Work Reading

The second exercise type (appendix 2) that I used was developed on the foundation of the cooperativehangman procedure and attempted to replicate the success of having students help each other towardsinsight, through the use of a tightly controlled puzzle-type task structure.

The Text

Mindful of the text comprehension questions that comprised the upcoming high-school entranceexamination, I decided to prepare my own texts (appendix 2) from the language available in the textbook.I carefully edited the English to include proto-typical examples of target grammar structures. These textsgrew steadily in length each week until they were comparable to the text length students would encounterin the examination. I felt it was important to provide them with as much reading comprehension input aspossible, in a way that simultaneously helped raise awareness of grammatical features. The stages to gothrough are as follows :

• The teacher reads the text out loud. The students follow silently.• The students divide into pairs.• For question 1, one student is nominated as the ‘teacher’ and the other student is

the ‘student’ who must solve the puzzle. On question 2 they switch roles.• The ‘teacher’ asks question 1 and also has the answer printed on the page in itallics.

The ‘students’ task is to copy down the question and then create the same answerby filling in blanks, in an information-gap style. Each word of the answer isnumbered and is to be ‘taught to the ‘student’

So, for example, in question 1 of appendix 2, the question is “Why are some people rushing toHawaii?” to which the correct answer is ‘Because they want to see the first sunrise.’ Each word of thisanswer is numbered, and in this case, it is 8 4 1 6 3 7 2 5, where the item numbered ‘3’ is ‘see’ and theitems numbered ‘2’ and ‘5’ are ‘first’ and ‘sunrise’.

On sheet B, the puzzle to be solved is presented as eight blanks with the same numbers, as below.

8 4 1 6 3 7 2 5

The answering student’s task is to scan through the text, to find the answer. (and they set to the taskwith an intensity similar to that displayed by students when doing the ‘hangman’ exercise.) When theanswering student identifies the approximate answer, they can suggest words, the position of which aretaught by the ‘teacher’. In this case, the student might think that the words ‘see’ or ‘first sunrise’ arecorrect but still not be sure how to join them together to make a full sentence. So the ‘teacher’ gives theposition of ‘see’ as number 3 and ‘first sunrise’ as numbers ‘2’ and ‘5’. Thus the answering student’spuzzle would now look like this:

see first sunrise8 4 1 6 3 7 2 5

As the correct answer gradually emerges on the page, the answering student is able to have the‘teacher’ confirm hypotheses about where other words fit into the puzzle. As I am suggesting that thepuzzle-type task is intrinsically enjoyable, the students try harder to find the correct answer, and it is atthis stage that they can potentially process the grammar knowledge they possess at a deeper, cognitivelevel. In this case, they may successfully guess that the ‘want to’ part precedes the verb, unlike Japanese,where it comes after. In this case, they will have tested and had confirmed, in 2-D ‘map’ form, the currentstate of their knowledge. Even if mistaken, the sentence continues emerging until the students reach astage where they can probably successfully fill in one, or some, of the blanks. Of course, the higher levelstudents might say the answer correctly in one go, and there is a danger that an especially gifted studentmight suggest an alternative correct answer which is deemed wrong by the ‘teacher’. In practice,however, this did not occur and students across the ability range were able to continue the puzzle until



they reached a point where they could finish the remaining blanks smoothly. On the way, however, theywill have been processing the target grammar. Motivation comes from completion of the task andrealization that they have dealt with quite sophisticated language.

Language to Complete the Task

I intended that, despite the highly structured methodology, the procedure would provide as much latitudeas possible for students to participate orally at their own level. I envisioned a classroom of studentscheerfully calling out their English answers, with less interested students still able to participate in thepuzzle-like information gap. But in the mixed-level class, I was not insistent that all students must talk.The procedure was about encouraging communication, rather being ‘communicative’. Having satisfiedmyself that my procedure would be no less communicative for the lack of fluently talking students, I feltreassured in the knowledge that the classroom interaction that did transpire could be adequately defendedon its own merits against any ‘communicative orthodoxy’ Seedhouse (1996, p.16). I certainly wanted toavoid situations in which less talented students were made to feel incompetent by their lack of oral skills.If the student chose to remain silent, it did not have to mean that the student was not participating. Indeed,Aston (1986) takes issue with many theorists who argue that language modification and maximalnegotiation in group work is a reliable predictor of acquisition. Notwithstanding the fact that I couldhardly expect Japanese students of this age to engage in elaborate negotiation of meaning, the creation ofmethodologies in which students can test their output are entirely possible even in the absence ofsophisticated talk. However, some students in my classes did display some commendable, negotiatedinteraction, and most others produced, at least, one-word interactions.

In an example from a subsequent lesson, one student, A, was very supportive of a partner, B, whocould not manage to create the answer ,’he it on NHK news ‘, to the question ‘Where did he hear Tsunanis a good ski town?’ where the problematic blank was ‘heard’

(English utterances in italics)A Look at the question, what is the question?’ Use the words from the question.B Did?A No, ‘kikimashita’B Tsunan?A No, that’s a noun!B Good?A No, that’s an adjective. Look, it’s there. There’s only one possibility!B Hear?A No, it’s got to be in the past tense.B Heard!

For both students here, despite the language of negotiation being predominantly Japanese, this wasprobably a very meaningful and insightful, since a clear case of language metatalk occurred.

Conclusion

In both of the activities presented above, students were given challenging tasks, but they were tasks aimedwithin their expected range of procedural development, and did not require precocious oral production. Inboth cases, students’ cognitive resources were channeled more towards processing the language that wasre-presented in a manner I hoped would impose as little pressure as possible to perform. What I foundwas that some students became very motivated to solve the language puzzles, displaying behavior such assticking to only English in the hangman activity, that perhaps is not so characteristic of manycommunicative pair-works. Further, I found that such an approach to student-student interaction allowedmany to feel satisfied with the extent of their ability, and it was motivating in the sense that studentsdiscovered they could do more than they expected.



References

Aston, G. (1986). Trouble-shooting in Interaction with Learners: the more the merrier? Applied Linguis-tics 7 (2): 128-43

Batstone, R. (1994). Product and Process: Grammar in the Second Language Classroom.Å@InBygateÅ@M., Tonkyn A. , and Williams E. (eds). Grammar and the Language Teacher. Pp225-230.Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall.

Applied Linguistics, 7, 128-143

Celce-Murcia, M. (1997). Direct Approaches in L2 Instruction: A Turning Point in Communicative Lan-guage

Teaching? Tesol Quarterly, 31/2 141-152

Cogan, D. (1995). Should Teachers of English Adapt Their Methods to Japanese Patterns of Learning and

Classroom Interaction? The Language Teacher 19/1 36-38

Courtney, M. (1996) Talking to learn: selecting and using peer group oral tasks. ELT Journal 50/4, 318-325

Language Acquisition? Tesol Quarterly, 20/2 305-325

Davies, A. (1984) Simple, simplified and simplification: what is authentic? In Alderson & Urquhartpp181-198

Reading in a Foreign Language, London: Longman

DeKayser , R.M. (1998) Beyond focus on form: Cognitive perspectives on learning and practicing secondlanguage grammar. In C. Doughty and J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition (pp.64-81). Cambridge Applied Linguistics

Doughty, C and Pica, T. (1986) Information Gap” Tasks: Do They Facilitate Second Language Acquisi-tion? Tesol Quarterly, 20/2 305-325

Ellis, R. (1984). Types of Classroom Interaction and their Role in Classroom Second Language Develop-ment. Classroom Second Language Development 83-131 Pergamon Press

Fotos, S. (1993). Consciousness Raising and Noticing through Focus on Form: Grammar Task Perfor-mance versus Formal Instruction. Applied Linguistics Vol/14 No.4 pp385-407

Fotos, S. (1994). Integrating grammar instruction and communicative language use through grammarconsciousness raising activities. TESOL Quarterly, 28(2) 323-51

Holliday, A. (1994) Appropriate Methodology and Social Context Cambridge University Press

Kumaravadivelu, B. (1991). Language Learning Tasks: teacher intention and learner interpretation. ELTJournal 45(2) 98-107

Krashen, S. (1982) Princples and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon

Kumaravadivelu, B. (1993). Maximizing learner potential in the communicative classroom. ELT Journal47/1,

Lightbown, P.M. (1998). The importance of timing in focus on form. In C. Doughty and J. Williams(Eds.), Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition (pp.64-81). Cambridge AppliedLinguistics

Long, M. and Crookes. G. (1992). Three Approaches to Task-Based Syllabus Design. Tesol Quarterly, 26/1, 69-79

Long, M and Porter (1985) Group work, Interlanguage Talk, and Second Language Acquisition. TESOLQuarterly, 19(2) 207-228



Nunan, D. (1987). Communicative language teaching: Making it work. ELT Journal 41/2 136-145

Pica, T and Doughty, C (1985) Input and Interaction in the Communicative Language Classroon: A Com-parison of Teacher-Fronted and Group Activities. Pp 115-132 In Gass & Madden Input and SecondLanguage Acquisition

Shortall, T. (1999). Presentation at JALT National Conference. Maebashi, Japan

Seedhouse, P. (1996). Classroom interactions: possibilities and impossibilities. ELT Journal 50/1, 16-33

Swain, M. (1998). Focus on form through conscious reflection. In C. Doughty and J. Williams (Eds.),Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition (pp.64-81). Cambridge Applied Linguis-tics

Tonkyn, A. (1996). Preparing for Real-World Tasks in the Classroom The Language Teacher Online 20 .9

Tonkyn, A. (1994). Introduction: Grammar and the Language Teacher. In Bygate et al. Grammar and theLanguage Teacher Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall

Yoshida, K. (2000). Presentation given at the Niigata Chapter of JALT June 2000

Appendix 1

‘Cooperative Hangman’



Appendix 2

Directed Pair-work reading.

12/14/99 3rd year. Student A

This month is the last month of the millennium. So there are many interesting events in the world. Forexample, many people are rushing to Hawaii because they want to see the first sunrise of the newmillennium. In London, a new museum bigger than Tokyo Dome was built. However, in Japan this year isnot so different. That’s because of the different Japanese calendar. Next year will be year 13 of the Heiseiera. However, there is a big technology problem for all the people in the world. Computers cannotunderstand the new year, which is called ‘00’. So many machines may not work. For example, hospitalmachines may stop. I am going to buy one week’s heater oil and food and mineral water. That’ll be safe.

Question 1 (dictate to your partner)Why are some people rushing to Hawaii?

AnswerBecause they want to see the first sunrise.

8 4 1 6 3 7 2 5

Question 2 (listen, write then check the text.)

Answer (please fill in the correct words after your partner confirms it)

4 1 6 7 3 2 8 5 ...etc.

12/14/99 3rd year. Student B

This month is the last month of the millennium. So there are many interesting events in the world. Forexample, many people are rushing to Hawaii because they want to see the first sunrise of the newmillennium. In London, a new museum bigger than Tokyo Dome was built. However, in Japan this year isnot so different. That’s because of the different Japanese calendar. Next year will be year 13 of the Heiseiera. However, there is a big technology problem for all the people in the world. Computers cannotunderstand the new year, which is called ‘00’. So many machines may not work. For example, hospitalmachines may stop. I am going to buy one week’s heater oil and food and mineral water. That’ll be safe.

Question 1 (listen, write then check the text.)

Answer (please fill in the correct words after your partner confirms it)

8 4 1 6 3 7 2 5

Question 2 (dictate to your partner)Why isn’t this year in Japan so different?

Answer (please fill in the correct words after your partner confirms it)Because there is a different calendar in Japan.



Section Three

CurriculumConcerns


Critical pedagogy is controversial. One reason is the phrase’s manyassociations, which some teachers, but by no means all, like and embrace.The division may be between those language teachers who seethemselves primarily as educators in the widest possible sense, and thosewho see themselves primarily as language teachers.

Critical collocates with linguistics, language awareness, and nowdiscourse analysis. These are not all interests shared by languageeducation practitioners. But, as I hope to show, the association of CriticalPedagogy with Critical Discourse Analysis can also be a strength forlanguage teachers. I make this claim not as a self-appointed advocate forCritical Pedagogy, or even as a self-identified practitioner of CriticalPedagogy, but rather as someone interested in what Critical Pedagogy(henceforth CP) has to offer language education.

That CP is important is attested to by the fact that a whole 1999TESOL Quarterly issue (33/3), edited by Alastair Pennycook, wasdevoted to the topic. What CP is, exactly, however, cannot be answered inany straightforward way from reading this issue: The articles are notalong the lines of “This is what CP is, and this is how I do it,” and inaddition are extremely wide-ranging. Rightly, then, it is important not to

seek a single, monolithic orthodoxy for either the notion or thepraxis of CP.

Pedagogy, most teachers would, Isuggest, take to refer to teaching plus, that

plus referring to some sort of vision,which might be educational, social, or

both. The preceding critical has twomeanings at least:

(a) to be critical, tohave a (political)critique, i.e. not tojust describe, orjust accept; butnot necessarily tobe negat ive -

being critical maymean identifying

advantages anddisadvantages for

different people indifferent situations in

( in th is case) theeducational process

(b) as in the medical phrase“her condition was critical,” i.e.

when something has to happen, in thesense that the patient will get better or worse (Iwill be using critical in this “something has tohappen” sense here too).

So, let’s put these two words together, and start with Pennycook’s

Jane SunderlandLancaster University

Critical Pedagogy,Language Classrooms,

and Gender: The Case ofTextbook Representation

and ClassroomInteraction


understanding. Pennycook claims that “critical approaches to TESOL involve both pedagogy andresearch” (p. 330), indicating that, for him, CP is part of a broader educational approach. CP itself, heclaims, has three ‘constitutive elements’:

The first constitutive element of critical work in TESOL … is an attempt to locateaspects of teaching English to speakers of other (othered?) languages within a broader,critical view of social and political relations. It is not enough, therefore, just to try toconnect TESOL to the world in which it occurs; this connection must focus … onthe questions of power, inequality, discrimination, resistance and struggle (1999:332).

This he summarises as “a focus on the inequitable contexts in which language education takesplace” (1999, p. 335).

This sort of discourse can of course alienate those teachers who see their role as concentratingprecisely on ‘the world in which TESOL occurs’ (presumably, the classroom and the world immediatelysurrounding it), who have not engaged with the concept of ‘othered’ languages, and who in fact may seetheir teaching as already broadly emancipatory: a tool for gaining individual economic opportunity (seeTollefson, 1995: 2). And, depending on how CP is done, it may also worry or confuse some students (apoint I will return to).

Pennycook’s pedagogy, however, goes beyond mere critique:

a second [constitutive] element is a pedagogical focus on changing those conditions… a second crucial element of a critical approach to TESOL is the inclusion of ameans of transformation (p. 335).

Transformation can of course refer to change on a small or large scale. And whereas most Englishteachers would, almost by definition, see their job as changing (improving) their students’ lives, byteaching them English, the transformation of wider social inequalities may be seen as quite anothermatter. First, is this the English teacher’s job, and, if it is, just how can their pedagogy can play a role inthis, when they have a curriculum and a textbook to follow?

Pennycook’s third constitutional element is “a self-reflexive stance on critical theory”. He writes:

First, we as TESOL professionals need to be constantly careful lest critical theorycome to play a role that is equally unchallenged as the ideas it seeks to challenge.Thus, critical pedagogy in TESOL must not become a static body of knowledge butrather must always be open to question (p. 345).

Encouragingly, perhaps, if CP is not to become a “static body of knowledge”, this allows room forthe development of a range of critical pedagogies (as, indeed, is suggested by the very differentcontributions in Pennycook’s edited volume).

Language teachers and critical pedagogy

When CP is the topic of discussion, language teachers often raise questions—critical ones. Let’s take justthree here:

(1) Is Pennycook’s the only, or the only acceptable, version of CP?

Even in the TQ issue Pennycook edited, there are clearly critical pedagogies. It would seem absurdin this era of pluralisation, post-structuralism, and documented communities of practice to identify eitheran orthodoxy or a guru here.

Most obviously—some writers are concerned with the use and teaching of English in the context of

Sunderland: Critical Pedagogy, Language Classrooms, and Gender Awareness


globalisation and English for international trade in general, and in post-colonial societies in particular.Others are rather concerned with inequality stemming from ethnicity, gender or sexual identity. Let meillustrate this with an extract from Bonny Norton and Kelleen Toohey’s rationale for their forthcomingedited collection Critical Pedagogies and Language Learning:

‘Critical’ second language educators share the following assumptions: socialrelationships are seldom constituted on equal terms, inequitable relations of powerare based on social meanings attached to (among others) gender, race, class, ethnicity,and sexual orientation, and second language learners place themselves and are placedwithin these relations.

Here, the fact that our students are speakers of other/nonEnglish first languages, othered languages,is not foregrounded to the same extent as in Pennycook’s recent work (though see also Pennycook, 1990).Norton and Toohey’s conceptualisation could in fact apply even if the words second language did notprecede the word learners.

(2) Why do we have to be critical? If everything’s going well, can’t we just enjoy it and be glad?Of course, we should enjoy things that are going well, and be glad. This, however does not mean

that we should be unaware of the possibility that things may be going well in a relatively limited sense,and that the classroom and learning experiences could be even better (perhaps even more empowering forlearners, as individuals and as members of particular social groups). At the risk of sounding paranoid, Iwould also like to point to the importance of vigilance—obvious inequalities, through banished, alwayshave the potential to return—perhaps in new and insidious forms.

(3) Does Critical Pedagogy in language classrooms in general and ESL/FL classrooms in particular havea special dimension?

The fact that English, the world’s most international language, is being taught to speakers of other(ed)languages cannot but raise questions of the role of English in an increasingly globalised world, especiallywhen this is considered against a historical background of English as the (onetime) language of economicimperialism in many countries. In particular, there is the question of whether the teaching of English tosome but not all actually helps promote economic inequalities within a given country (this has to be seenin an educational context in which education, even at primary level, is itself not universal). Tollefsonnotes that the spread of English “helps to institutionalise the gap between [‘traditional’ (poor) and‘Western’ (wealthy)] sectors” (1991, p. 85). Looking in particular at Western experts teaching Englishoverseas, he observes that their “knowledge and skills are not distributed equally throughout thedeveloping societies, and therefore they may facilitate the development of inequality through dualism”(1991: 97).

Language education may have features not normally shared by other curricular subjects. Inparticular:

• in language classrooms worldwide more than one language is typically spoken.• talk is not just a medium of communication but a skill to be acquired (hence the

speaking skill).• linguistic knowledge is cumulative, and may benefit from or even require a particular

learning style; this style may be characteristic of some individuals or groups ofpeople rather than others.

Each of these may have implications for subject-specific critical scrutiny of language classrooms.Three further points about teachers’ beliefs about CP are relevant here. The first is best expressed

through an anecdote. When the special “Critical Pedagogy” issue of TESOL Quarterly first came out, two



research groups in my Department, the Language, Ideology and Power Research Group, and theClassroom Language Learning Research Group, met jointly to discuss Pennycook’s “Introduction”.CLLRG members were noticeably quiet – but not so the LIP members, most of whom were not languageteachers. Clearly, the LIP people were much more comfortable with Pennycook’s critical discourse thanwere the CLLRG people.

Secondly, as Stephanie Vandrick suggests in the GALE Newsletter of May 1999, ESL teachers maybe less aware of critical feminist pedagogies than are teachers in other areas of education. She notes theperception that:

…[critical] pedagogies are too political, even radical. Teachers may be afraid ofpoliticising the classroom, of imposing their political views on students, or ofappearing to do so …. However, many of the tenets and practices of [critical pedagogy]are those which many ESL teachers would agree with if they were presented withoutthe labels. For example, critical … pedagogies and ESL share a concern for socialjustice issues, especially regarding the minority students found in most ESL classes”(Vandrick, 1999: 6).

Observation suggests this to be true of ESL classrooms in the USA and the UK, at least. EFL –whether taught in home country or overseas – is a rather different case. EFL students studying in theirhome country are not a minority group, and when studying overseas are ‘privileged travellers’ rather thandisadvantaged new residents. But experience suggests that CP is not a concern shared by EFL teacherseither.

Thirdly, teachers may be actively resistant to CP. This resistance may be because of an awarenessthat in CP teaching English is sometimes seen as promoting elitism – and according to whose tenetsteachers are supposed to think about whether they themselves are contributing to inequality. This is notwhat teachers most like to hear (or think).

English teachers’ sometime resistance to CP may be because they often do not see what they aredoing as at all political. However, CP-advocates would claim, I think convincingly, that ESL and EFL arealready political, infused with inequalities – just as the world outside language education is. This is whatPennycook and others refer to as all knowledge, and knowledge claims, being interested, i.e. that they“reflect the particular concerns of a group or individual and are always thus bound up in relationships ofpower” (Pennycook, 1990, p. 309; see also, 1989). To take as an example sexual identity, arguably it isheterosexuality which is continually represented, represented positively, and whose interests are thusbeing served. As Cynthia Nelson puts it in her article in the TESOL Quarterly special issue:

… some colleagues are puzzled, even perturbed, by the idea that lesbian or gayidentities could have any relevance to language learning. To them, gay-friendlyteaching is at best of marginal importance, of interest only to a small minority oflearners and teachers (gay ones), and at worst invasive …. These colleagues do notalways recognise that sexual identity is already an integral part of ESL. “Husband,wife, wedding ring … anniversaries, in-laws, boy/girlfriend: all are the currency ofeveryday social intercourse for the heterosexual” (Harris, 1990, p. 103), but arethese references to sexual identity perceived as such? (Nelson, 1999, p. 373)

Similarly, other identities and interests may also be represented as normative in English languageeducation, these representations being enshrined in particular teaching materials.

To return to my anecdote about the meeting of the two research groups: the people in the Language,Ideology and Power group might have been more interested in CP than were the Classroom LanguageLearning Research group people because CP may have more in common with CDA than with languagepedagogy and language learning. But I would like to argue, and hopefully show, that CP’s resemblance toCDA can also be a strength for language education, both in terms of practitioners’ understanding, and in



terms of classroom pedagogy itself. Taking as my starting point that “CDA begins from some perceptionof a discourse-related problem in some part of social life” (Chouliaraki and Faiclough, 2000: 60), I willtake as my framework an earlier but now classic model used in CDA - Fairclough’s ‘3-dimensional-concept of discourse’ (1992):

Text is often seen as written words—in the shape of a textbook, single textbook text, grammar,dictionary, worksheet, workbook, teacher’s guide, test, etc. However, it is possible too to talk about aspoken text—something I will return to.

Text can also be seen as one aspect of discursive practice, and indeed it is sometimes hard to make adistinction, particularly in the case of spoken text.

The concept of discursive practice refers to what is done with the text, in terms of its production,distribution and consumption, which I am using here to refer to how the text is used, and responded to.The following table illustrates how these discursive practices may be realised in the context of thelanguage classroom:

Discursive practices associated with written texts found in the language classroome.g. Textbook, Grammar, Dictionary, Teacher’s Guide, a Single Textbook Text, Test, Workbook

Production Distribution Consumption

Who produces text? Who receives text? How is text used?– state/private; With Teacher’s Guide?

global/national publisher? Macro level: What sort of ‘talk aroundAll relevant educational the text’ is there?

Consultation with? institutions? Do different (social groups Commercial outlets? of) students say

Theory of language? Who pays? different things in relationof learning? to the text (different

of role of the text in Micro-level: ‘discursive practices’)?the pedagogic process? all students in class? Do different students

Policy on social (social groups of) studentsrepresentation? interpret the text differently?

Arguably, a discursive practice can also be seen in textual features alone, in their combination andsequencing: for example, in the textbook, the particular arrangement of a unit may be seen as a discursive


SOCIAL PRACTICE

DISCURSIVE PRACTICE(production, distribution, consumption)

TEXT


practice.Similarly, social practices include discursive practices, but are wider (Fairclough, 1992;

Chouliaraki and Fairclough, 2000). Here, they would include institutional practices, for example,selection of students – whether on, say, a meritocratic basis, by achievement only; or, in order to achieveequal numbers of female and male students, by raising the entry standard for female students only(something which does happen).

This three-way distinction is relevant to both research and teaching, and in what follows I use thismodel to shuttle back and forth between the two. I do not however draw a line between them, suggestingrather that teachers can in different ways also be their own classroom researchers.

From text to discursive practice

I would like to exemplify critical pedagogy in the context of language education and gender in relation tothis model by looking first at what is often seen in terms of ‘text’, but what is better, I suggest, looked atfor associated discursive practices. This is a topic that some might think has been ‘done’ to the point ofboredom: gender representation in language textbooks. I will however first briefly summarise this work,then move beyond it.

Looking at gender representation, a form of social representation, is of course one way of analysingtextbook texts. Relevant questions include: Who is in the textbook? Equal numbers of women and men?People of different sexual identities? What are their abilities, activities and occupations? Is this anaccurate reflection of the ‘target culture’ represented in the textbook?

A lot of work has been done in this area, including in Japan (e.g. Naka, 1999). Content analyses ofEnglish language textbooks (mainly from the 1970s and 1980; for examples of these studies seeFreudenstein (ed.), 1978; Porreca, 1984) found:

• more male than female characters• both male and female characters in stereotypical occupations; males in a greater

range of occupations• female characters more often portrayed as wives, mothers and girlfriends than

male characters as husbands, fathers and boyfriends• personality stereotyping: men as brave, women as timid

Linguistic analyses found that women and men often have different discourse roles (e.g. women askfor information, men provide it); men tend to speak first, last and longest in mixed-sex dialogues (e.g.Carroll and Kowitz, 1994; Lesikin, 1998; Poulou, 1997; Jones et al.,1997; see also Sunderland, 2000b).

Now some people might identify a contradiction here, or at least a paradox: it tends to be women/girls who do rather well at foreign languages (e.g. Arnot et al., 1996), and indeed women and girls whochoose to study foreign languages when they have the choice (Wikeley and Stables, 1999). This mightsuggest that such bias in textbooks may be irrelevant. And I would certainly suggest that textbook textsthemselves may not be as relevant to learning as what is done with them. Such a possibility represents amove from the level of text to the level of discursive practice, and, in particular, to consumption1.

How are texts consumed (or what is done with them), by teachers and by students? The broadestanswer to this research question is that with a given text there are many possibilities, not all predictable.You cannot predict how a text will be treated, or consumed, in class, from the text itself, because you donot know what the teacher and students, collaboratively or otherwise, will do with it. Further, there hasbeen very little empirical work in this area.

I can however give three examples of what has been found to have been done with textbook texts,all taken from empirically-based dissertations by Lancaster MA students. These postgraduates went intoEnglish language classrooms in different parts of the world – Portugal, Greece, UK. They chose toobserve and audiorecord lessons in which they knew the students would be using part of the textbookwhich included what they called a gender critical point. Drawing on the second meaning of critical, agender critical point was a point in the textbook which was something to do with gender, about which



representation the teacher had to do something (even if this was to ignore it completely). The researchquestion was therefore “What will the teacher do when he or she reaches this particular point in thetextbook?”

The first study was done at a British Council language class in Portugal, by Julie Shattuck. Shattuckhad discovered that the teacher would be teaching a Unit about marriage and weddings, from UpperIntermediate Matters. One text in this Unit (the ‘gender critical point’) was about the marriage between aSwedish woman and an Indian man, and their two weddings. The teacher, Clive, decided as part of thelesson to tell the students about traditional British weddings. This included saying that

the bride (.) usually (.) if it’s especially for the church wedding will wear white (.)and (.) the bridesmaids (.) she will often choose the (.) the outfit for them (.) usuallyshe chooses something horrible so they (.) don’t look as good as her (Shattuck,1996: 26)2

Clive’s words—which both draw on and exaggerate traditional stereotypes of women as vain, petty,scheming and jealous of other women—could never have been predicted from the text alone. And thoughhe may have meant to be humorous, there is no guarantee that such humour will cross cultures.

The second study was done by Christina Leontzakou in a language school in Athens. The text inquestion concerned a male babysitter. Leontzakou saw this as a gender critical point since malebabysitters—slightly unusual in the UK, very unusual in Greece—suggested that the teacher would saysomething about this gender representation. Part of the listening text was as follows:

TapescriptListen to two people talking about a broken arrangement. Look at your Students’ Book and follow theinstructions.

Man: I’m furious with Alan!Woman: Why?Man: Well, you remember he offered to babysit for us on Friday night?Woman: Yes?Man: Well, he didn’t turn up!

……………Woman: What did Alan say? He must have apologised.Man: Oh yes, he apologised. He said he had been held up at work.

In the event, to Leontzakou’s surprise, the teacher said nothing about the babysitter being a man.The particular gender representation was thus (against her predictions) ignored.

The third example is one of what we can call gender-stereotypical texts being critiqued, or evensubverted, by the teacher. This is indirect evidence, since it comes not from a classroom transcript, butfrom an interview with a French teacher, Angela, carried out by Fauziah Abdul Rahim. Talking about aprevious textbook, Angela says:

Well I can tell you how I dealt with the old book we used to laugh at this … MadameLafayette … We used to ask them ‘Look at this … where is she? in the kitchen …and where else would she be? She couldn’t possibly be anywhere else!’ So we usedto make fun and make jokes of it because we couldn’t . . . It was the only way, tellingthe students without them assuming well without them thinking badly of it everytime and it was just a joke so they’d laugh (Abdul Rahim, 1997).

There are thus many different ways a text whose focus is gender, or one which includes genderissues, can be dealt with by the teacher. She or he can:



• indicate approval of or exaggerate a traditional gender representation.• ignore gender completely (whether representation is traditional, or is progressive).• critique or subvert a traditional gender representation.• critique or subvert a progressive gender representation.• indicate approval of a progressive gender representation.

The first three of these we have seen examples of; the last two are logical possibilities.The implication of these studies for further research is that discursive practices in the form of

teacher talk around the textbook text are both interesting and unpredictable from the text itself. (Forfurther discussion of teacher talk around the textbook text, see Sunderland et al., 2000.) Such practicesmay have more relevance for the students’ learning than gender representation in the text alone. And theway teachers use gendered teaching materials can be monitored—through critical self- or peer-observation.

As regards gender representation in the text, students can critique this. This is itself a discursive(pedagogic) practice. These may both seem like examples of ‘weak’ CP, in that they do not in themselvesextend to the wider world of social practices. However, the textbook topic addressed in the classroomparticipants’ discursive practices in the lessons described can be relevant social practices: the textbookwedding (why is it like it is?); textbook baby-sitting (who does it and why?); textbook housework (who isin the kitchen most of the time? is it women or men who tend to have two jobs, looking after the houseand one outside the home?) For many textbook texts, in fact, students can be encouraged to addressquestions such as: “Why is this man/woman doing this?,” “Why isn’t it being done by a man/woman?,”“Who benefits most from this? who loses?” and “Who is being disadvantaged by this arrangement?,” andbe encouraged to respond with reference to social practices.

Importantly, a given piece of gendered behaviour is not necessarily a simple question ofdisadvantage for women; the disadvantage may also be for men, for example if a given social practicemeans men do not have access to the whole range of possible human social experiences. In relation tothis, Nelson draws on the notion of a “Pedagogy of Enquiry” (Nelson, 1999). This means not insisting oninclusion of marginalised groups, but rather asking questions about what/who is not and what/who isincluded, and why.

To sum up, whereas for researchers, critiquing a text may be of limited interest (critiquing thediscursive practice round that text in the classroom, i.e. what is done with the text?, being much more tothe point as regards any possible effect of that text), for students and teachers, critiquing a text in class isitself a discursive practice which is a form of critical pedagogy of enquiry.

From discursive practices to social practices

I would now like to move from the central box in Fairclough’s 1992 model, discursive practices, to theouter box, social practices.

As I indicated earlier, it is possible to see all talk, including language classroom talk, as text –spoken text. It is also possible to see classroom talk as a set of discursive practices, including and inrelation to that text. And as regards the discursive practices of production and consumption of that text, allclassroom participants can be seen as both potential producers and potential consumers. Consumption oftalk can be addressed through questions such as: how is talk utilised? do quieter students get irritated bynoisy ones and switch off? do they listen and learn from them? Both the last two are of course possible,and huge variation between students is likely (as well as, indeed, variation within an individual student).

However, also interesting is the distribution of that talk – who speaks, to whom, when, and aboutwhat. One example of a discursive practice as regards distribution here is the proportion of teacher talk tostudent talk, conventionally taken to be 66% : 33%. However the distribution of classroom talk may alsobe gendered. Gendered distribution of classroom talk was investigated in the 1970s, 80s and early 90s, indifferent subject classrooms. Research questions included:



• does the teacher talk differently to male and female students?• is the classroom talk of female students to the teacher different to that of male

students?• in mixed sex pair- and group work, do female and male students speak differently?

These questions referred both to amount of talk and type of talk. Most studies were of teacher talkto male and female students, i.e. the amount and type of attention each social group received. Thefindings were overwhelmingly of male students receiving the lion’s share of teacher attention (forexamples in different subject classrooms see Croll, 1985; Dart and Clarke, 1988; Howe, 1997;Sunderland, 2000b). The person who did the most to bring this phenomenon to public awareness, at leastin the UK, was probably Dale Spender, who as a feminist teacher was not only aware of these findings,but concerned that she should not be playing a part in this herself. She therefore audiotaped her ownclassrooms:

… sometimes I have … thought I have gone too far and have spent more time withthe girls than the boys. But the tapes have proved otherwise. Out of ten taped lessons… the maximum time I spent interacting with girls was 42% and on average 38%,and the minimum time with boys 58% …. It is nothing short of a substantial shockto realise the discrepancy between what I thought I was doing and what I actuallywas doing (Spender, 1982).

This last sentence is particularly salutory. It is important to note that Spender’s findings wereechoed elsewhere – after as well as before her own ‘experiment’. A meta-analysis (study of studies – inthis case 81) by Alison Kelly found that, in terms of amount of attention,

It is now beyond dispute that girls receive less of the teacher’s attention in class ….It applies in all age groups … in several countries, in various socio-economicgroupings, across all subjects in the curriculum, and with both male and femaleteachers ….(my italics)

and that in terms of type of attention (though still quantitatively):

Boys get more of all kinds of classroom interaction. This discrepancy is most markedfor behavioural criticism, but ... boys also get more instructional contacts, more highlevel questions, more academic criticism and slightly more praise than girls … (Kelly,1988).

When such differential teacher treatment exists, it has implications for language learningopportunities. However two caveats are needed here. The first is that if boys receive the lion’s share of theteacher’s attention, on average, this is usually because most of that attention goes to a small subset ofboys (French and French, 1984; Sunderland, 2000a), not to boys ‘as a whole’. The second is thatdifferential teacher attention in favour of boys and more talk by boys do not always go hand in hand. Myown study, for example, which used as data twelve German lessons in a secondary school in Lancashire,UK, produced the finding that the teacher paid more attention to the boys in terms of

• number of ‘solicit words’ [i.e. words getting a student to say or do something](significant at 5% level)

• proportion of non-academic solicits (approaching significance at 5% level)

but also that when the teacher asked a question which required an answer in German withoutnaming a student to answer it, the student who volunteered to answer was most likely to be a girl



(Sunderland, 1996, 1998, 2000a). Classrooms are complex places.The question now is why these discursive practices in the language classroom are gendered in this

way? In the words of the ethnographer, what’s happening here? Is it a simple matter of boys showing offand being selfish? Are teachers in fact promoting this laddishness? There is some evidence of the latter,according to a recent report in The Times:

Laddish behaviour by boys in the classroom is often encouraged and reinforced byteachers, a study claims…. Male and female teachers found the ‘class clown’appealing because he made lessons less boring …. Becky Francis, of the School ofEducation at Greenwich University [UK], who did the research for her book Boys,Girls and Achievement: Addressing the Classroom Issues, said “Teachers oftensupport disruptive behaviour, thereby contributing to the increased status of laddishboys among their peers.” (The Times, 28/9/2000)

Arguably, in the language classroom, such teacher behaviour may act as discouragement of boys tobe good language learners. How widespread a phenomenon it is, however, is a matter for further research.This would seem to be a case of a social process recognisable from outside the classroom being re-enacted (and perhaps redefined) inside the classroom. However, it is a phenomenon which can beaddressed discursively, through a discursive pedagogic practice, for example as the basis of studentdiscussion or groupwork: do these things happen? do boys get talked to more by the teacher? if so, whatare the reasons for it happening? who gains? who loses? in what ways? In this way students can critiquethe situation through a pedagogy of enquiry – a critical pedagogy of enquiry. And this is entirelyjustifiable in pedagogic terms, since the range of topics in the language classroom is potentially infinite(and, arguably, should be so). This range can (indeed, again, surely, should) include topics to do with thelanguage learning process. In the words of Dick Allwright:

… it is perfectly possible to adapt language learning activities that the class is alreadyfamiliar with. For example, groups may actually find it helpful to talk about what ishappening inside their group – to talk about why they find it so easy to slip into themother tongue and so difficult to hold onto English, for example, instead of talkingabout ‘malaria’ or ‘pollution’, or whatever other topic the textbook might suggest.In this way they can get on with their language learning and also gain some insightinto the processes they are going through (Allwright, 1999: 20).

Allwright is referring to exploratory teaching, but the point is apt here too. In such discussions,through such discursive practices, classroom participants are again using critique – critique of discursiveand also, most probably, social practices.

But are we not again facing this apparent paradox here, i.e. that although

• females are poorly represented in EFL materials, and• males have a tendency to dominate the (language) classroom, at least in some ways

at the same time• females choose to do languages when they have the choice much more than do

males• females largely do better in FL exams

These last two phenomena may together constitute one reason why EFL teachers are unwilling totake up critical pedagogical approaches towards gender … they may feel that girls and young women arethe ones with the advantages3. However, we need to consider the possibility not only that genderrepresentation in a textbook doesn’t matter in terms of achievement (since what is done with a giventextbook text, the discursive practice, cannot be predicted from that text), but also even that what is done



with a textbook may be relatively unimportant. (This does not mean, of course, that textbookrepresentation should not be a subject for classroom critique, if the topic is a valid one for discussion inboth social and pedagogic terms.)

It may even be the case that male dominance doesn’t matter in terms of achievement. Addressingthis particular question, Arnot et al. write:

There is … some evidence that girls adopt effective ‘compensatory strategies’ … toensure that their questions are answered and their needs are met (Arnot et al., 1998).

However, again, male dominance can be a topic for critical class or group discussion.But when looking at achievement and subject choice as regards gender, we may need to seek an

explanation in social practices, and to consider the possibility that these (together with associated socialattitudes) might in fact nullify any effects there may be of poor textbook representation of females, evenof use of gendered texts, and of male dominance in classroom interaction, in that social practices may bea particularly powerful factor in boys’ language learning, achievement, and subject choices.

Starting with the question “Why do relatively few boys/young men choose languages?”, a relevantnext question might be “What is perceived as masculine?” Gender is sometimes seen as being‘oppositional’ – masculinity and femininity being defined and defining themselves according to what theother is not. Often, however, although what is seen as masculine is the opposite of what is associated withbeing feminine, the reverse is not true. So, for example, boys don’t normally wear skirts, whereas girls dowear trousers. Masculinity and femininity do not thus appear to be mirror images of each other. Let’s takeanother example. The setting is the German classroom referred to earlier; the students are practisingdialogues; they are sitting, by choice, in single sex pairs. The teacher, who recognises the possibility ofpaying more attention to male students, is alternating between pairs of boys and pairs of girls. It is nowthe turn of a pair of boys:

Teacher: we’re going to have two more boys I think . two more boys . what aboutRay and Max

Ray/Max: noTeacher: no . why notLia/May: we’re boysKay/Bea: we’re boysKay: we’re boys missTeacher: all right we’ll have two more girls and then we’ll see if the boys have

got any courage

Two girls were chosen to perform the dialogue, and the lesson continued, with no obvious laughter orcomment. When I later interviewed two boys about the event, they said:

Harry: girls will do anything to get a go at something but boys they have a limitwhat they can do and if they pass that limit they won’t they won’t theywon’t say anything they can’t be bothered doing it

Oliver: it was like sort of normal for a girl to sort of like shout out and stuff butlike for a boy it’s just not normal to say that you’re a girl

For Harry and Oliver at least, then, masculinity would seem to be particularly oppositional tofemininity, with relatively rigid boundaries.

Support for this can be found in secondary schools in the UK, some of which are single-sex, non-coeducational. In single sex boys’ schools, more boys choose to continue with languages, or indeed startnew ones, when they have the chance, than they do in mixed-sex schools (Arnot et al. 1998). Arguably,then, in single-sex boys’ schools, languages are less obviously perceived as feminine, simply because



there are no girls around to take them.Possible reasons for boys not choosing languages do not however explain why girls do, when they

have a choice of subjects. Languages are in fact not particularly popular with girls in the UK either.However, it is possible that languages are seen as suitable for girls by parents, perhaps even by careersofficers; relatedly, there may still be a vestige of the Victorian idea of languages as feminineaccomplishments (an idea which may obtain in several cultural contexts). It may also be that, to an extent,girls are steered into languages (or steer themselves into languages) because they do not see themselves asclever or academic, and see subjects such as sciences, maths and history as ‘hard’. Such attitudes, whichare of course to do with beliefs about the nature of masculinity and femininity within a given society, mayin turn shape the social practices associated with subject choice, in both secondary and higher education.

What about the phenomenon of girls and young women tending to achieve better than boys andyoung men in foreign languages? In some ways, this is something of a surprise – if fewer members of aparticular group take a particular subject, it might be expected that they would be special in some way,and would outperform the members of the larger group. And this is precisely what happens in the UKwith boys who take foreign languages at A-level (the highest national school exam, normally takenaround age 18, which also functions as a University entrance exam) – though the difference here is verysmall (Arnot et al., 1998). However, it doesn’t happen in the earlier national examinations (GeneralCertificate of Secondary Education, taken around age 16): fewer boys than girls take these, and boys doworse.

Why do girls do better? Psycholinguistic claims of a neurolinguistic nature are unconvincing.Ekstrand (1980: 203) notes two clear tendencies in the study of cognitive sex differences in general:“inconsistency of findings” and “relative smallness of the differences”. From his own investigation intoinnate sex differences in second language learning, Ekstrand concludes that much evidence points in thedirection of men and women being so alike that “almost all the behavioural variation may be explained bycultural factors” (1980: 251).

And indeed there are several studies on cultural, social factors in language learning, which enablesociolinguistic rather than psycholinguistic claims, and accordingly stress the relevance of socialpractices, including those social practices which relate to gender and language learning. One example isprovided by Gunthner, who studied Chinese women and men learning German in Germany:

… the Chinese women … oriented themselves much more to language deficienciesand appealed to the natives for help, whereas the Chinese men tried to solve theirlanguage problems (search for words, struggling with the correct syntax andpronunciation, etc.) without explicitly asking the natives for help ….

Gunthner speculated that “Situations that reveal communicative deficits might be more face-threatening for Chinese men” (Gunthner, 1982: 185; see also Ehrlich, 1997).

Most such studies have been of adults in SL/FL settings. But what about Japanese schoolchildrenlearning English in Japan, or British schoolchildren learning French in the UK, or young undergraduatestudents in either country studying a foreign language?

Part of the explanation for boys’ low level of achievement relative to girls at school, at least in theUK, may be nothing to do with language teaching or learning, but to do with the culture of schooleducation itself: boys in the UK currently perform less well than girls in most subjects at all levels, andthere is no reason why foreign language learning should be different. Several years ago the investigativeBBC TV programme Panorama featured the issue of gender differential achievement. At one point theinterviewer asked a primary school boy of around eight or nine “What do you think about boys who workhard?” The response was “They’re not boys.” While this clearly does not constitute any form of ‘proof’,this tiny exchange may contain a speck of light. In The Times’ report of Francis’ recent study of‘laddishness’ in schools, we read that “Pupils told [Dr. Francis] that there was considerable pressure toappear macho and that boys did not want to appear studious to gain acceptance” (The Times, 28/9/2000).Relatedly, in the UK, at least, boys who choose to continue with languages may do so because they like



other subjects even less – in which case we should not expect the boys who do choose languages to doparticularly well.

Clearly, then, explanations for gender tendencies in achievement and in subject choices must seekexplanations in attitudes and social practices which lie beyond the classroom itself (i.e. in the ‘outer box’)– though classroom factors may play a part. Classroom factors such as gender representation in textbooks(the ‘inner box’ – text), and gendered classroom interaction (the ‘middle box’ – discursive practice),however remain appropriate subjects for the discursive pedagogic practice of student critique.

To return to critical pedagogy ….

The above discussion raises questions for language classroom researchers, textbook writers, languagetesters and language teacher educators, as well as for language teachers and students. But to return to thetopic of this paper, I am suggesting that the CDA framework can help CP in two ways:

1. it can suggest a socially contextualised locus for a given issue or problem – text,discursive practices or social practices This may be particularly relevant to policymakers, teacher educators and researchers. or teachers and students. For teachersand students

2. it can be used to promote a pedagogy of enquiry - the discursive practice ofasking essentially critical questions about loss and gain, advantage anddisadvantage, for women and men, girls and boys

Classroom activities might include:

(a) problem solving ‘working parties’, working on such problems as:- few boys choose to take languages at University- girls aren’t willing to practice speaking in class- the textbook shows what women and men were doing in Japan twenty years ago

(b) class discussions, e.g., for a given situation, the class could discuss, in a spirit ofa ‘pedagogy of enquiry’:- How do women/girls/men/boys gain by this situation, and in what ways?- How do women/girls/men/boys lose by this situation, and in what ways?

(c) work on language functions:‘Giving (different) reasons/explanations’‘Expressing ideas and opinions’e.g. Why do girls seem to like languages more than boys?Why do boys talk more than girls in class?In my opinion …./One possible reason is …./Because they ….

This last can be done through surveys: each student can ‘survey’ several others by going round theclass and asking them what they think is the explanation for something, or perhaps what the advantagesfor women, or for men, of a particular situation are.

Clearly, the ability to do something like giving different explanations will vary with the levels of thestudent: University and College students will be better equipped to do this than Senior High Schoolstudents, and Senior High School students better than Junior High School students. Different types andamounts of teacher guidance will thus be needed – for the students, who have been somewhat neglectedin this paper. CP may leave students baffled, embarrassed or disturbed; they may feel such a lesson is nota language lesson at all; they may be unfamiliar with the issues and may in any case prefer to talk about“the sunny side of life”; they may be being asked to do things with English that they not do in theirmother tongue. In terms of student guidance, then, it may not be so much a matter of types and amountsfor students of different levels and abilities in English, as stages of guidance up to the point where theycan appreciate the ‘interested’ nature of language.



Conclusion

To return to Pennycook’s objectives of CP, the objective I have pursued here is largely the first one, tocritique, or “to investigate and make explicit how knowledge is produced and legitimated within schools”(Pennycook, 1990, p. 309). Transformation usually takes more time and I suggest is something which isultimately in the hands of those in the ascendance - the students. Critique may plant valuable seeds here,and it may not be new: as Stephanie Vandrick notes:

Upon … investigations, teachers and scholars may well find that they are alreadypractising these pedagogies, or making efforts in the direction of doing so, but simplyhave not labelled them as such (Vandrick, 1999, p. 7).

But critique may also become transformation, if dominant discourses in and of the languageclassroom are not only recognised as such but are also joined by previously peripheral or subjugated waysof seeing the world.

To conclude: I am suggesting that explanations for gendered achievement and other behaviour inrelation to language learning are likely to exist on the ‘social practices’ dimension of Fairclough’s model,but that a range of critical discursive practices in the classroom can usefully be addressed to those verysocial practices, as well as to gendered textbook texts, and indeed, reflexively, to classroom discursivepractices themselves. The practice of CP can thus be done (and, as Vandrick suggests, probably is beingdone) in relation to any or all of Fairclough’s three dimensions. Critical pedagogy, then, can havepedagogic, as well as, hopefully, social and political benefits.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Amy Yamashiro and the other members of the GALE and WELL groups for invitingme to JALT2000, and to the British Council for their sponsorship of my visit; the topic of this paper wasnot pre-existing but was developed for this Conference. I would also like to thank Branca Fabricio andMichi Shiina for reading and making constructive comments on the pre-final draft of this paper.

Endnotes

1. Also known in literacy studies as ‘talk around the text’2. The dots within brackets here represent pauses3. It is possible, of course, logically, that with better representation in textbooks,

and less male dominance in the classroom, girls would do even better.

References

Abdul Rahim, F. (1997). Gender – if “it’s part of the climate”, what do language teachers do?: Looking atteachers’ treatment of gender in teaching materials. MA dissertation, Lancaster University.

Allwright, R. (2000). Learning (and teaching) as well as you know how – why is it so very difficult?Odense Working Papers in Language and Communication 22: 1 – 42. Also 1999. Centre for Researchin Language Education (CRILE) Working Paper 40, Lancaster University.

Arnot, M., Gray, J., James, M., Ruddock, J. with Duveen, G. (1998). Recent Research on Gender andEducational Performance. London: HMSO/Ofsted.

Arnot, M., David, M. and Weiner, G. (1996). Educational Reforms and Gender Equality in Schools.Equal Opportunities Commission Research Discussion Series No. 17. Manchester: EOC.

Carroll, D. and Kowitz, J. (1994). Using concordancing techniques to study gender stereotyping in ELTtextbooks. In J. Sunderland (ed) Exploring Gender: Questions and Implications for English LanguageEducation. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall.



Chouliaraki, L. and Fairclough, N. (2000). Discourse in Late Modernity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh U.P.

Croll, P. (1985). Teacher interaction with individual male and female pupils in junior age classrooms.Educational Research 27(3): 220 - 3.

Dart, B. and Clarke, J. (1988). Sexism in schools: a new look. Educational Review40/1: 41 - 9.

Ekstrand, L. (1980). Sex differences in second language learning?: empirical studies and a discussion ofrelated findings. International Review of Applied Psychology 29: 205 – 59.

Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity.

French, J. and French, P. (1984). Gender imbalances in the primary classroom: an interactional account.Educational Research 26/2: 127 - 136.

Freudenstein, R. (ed.) (1978). The Role of Women in Foreign Language Textbooks: a Collection of Es-says. Collections d’Etudes Linguistiques, No. 24. Ghent: Federation Internationales des Professeurs deLangues Vivantes.

Gunthner, S. (1992). ‘The construction of gendered discourse in Chinese-German interactions.’ Discourseand Society 3(2): 167 – 191.

Harris, S. (1990). Lesbian and Gay Issues in the English Classroom: the importance of being honest.Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Howe, C. (1997). Gender and Classroom Interaction: a research review. Edinburgh: SCRE.

Jones, M., Kitetu, C. and Sunderland, J. (1997). Discourse roles, gender and language textbook dialogues:who learns what from John and Sally? Gender and Education 9(4): 469-90.

Kelly, A. (1988). ‘Gender-differences in teacher-pupil interactions: a meta–analytic review.’ Research inEducation 39: 1 – 23.

Lesikin, J. 1998. Determining social prominence: A methodology for uncovering gender bias in ESLtextbooks. College ESL 8(1): 433 – 446.

Leontzakou, C. (1997). ‘How teachers deal with gendered EFL textbook material.’ MA dissertation,Lancaster University.

Naka, M. (1999). ‘Sex and gender presentation of Senior High School English textbooks in Japan.’ Paperpresented at AILA ’99, Tokyo.

Nelson, C. (1999). ‘Sexual identities in ESL: Queer Theory and classroom enquiry.’ TESOL Quarterly33(3): 371 – 391.

Norton, B. and K. Toohey (eds.) (forthcoming) Critical Pedagogies and Language Learning. Cambridge:CUP.

Pennycook, A. (1999). ‘Introduction: critical approaches to TESOL.’ TESOL Quarterly 33(3): 329 – 348.

Pennycook, A. (1990). ‘Critical pedagogy and second language education.’ System 18(3): 303-314.

Pennycook, A. (1989). ‘The concept of method, interested knowledge, and the politics of language teach-ing.’ TESOL Quarterly 23(49: 589 – 618.

Poulou, S. (1997). Sexism in the discourse roles of textbook dialogues. Language Learning Journal 15:68 – 73.

Porecca, K. (1984). Sexism in current ESL textbooks. TESOL Quarterly 18(49: 705 -23.

Shattuck, J. (1996). ‘The interplay between EFL textbooks, teacher behaviour and gender.’ MA disserta-tion, Lancaster University.



Spender, D. (1982). Invisible Women: the Schooling Scandal. London: The Women’s Press.

Sunderland, J. (2000a). New understandings of gender and language classroom research: texts, teachertalk and student talk. Language Teaching Research 4(2): 149 – 173.

Sunderland, J. (2000b). Review article: issues of language and gender in second and foreign languageeducation. Language Teaching 33(4): 203 – 223.

Sunderland, J. 1998. Girls being quiet: A problem for foreign language classrooms? Language TeachingResearch 2(1): 48 – 62.

Sunderland, J. (1996). Gendered Discourse in the Foreign Language Classroom: Teacher-Student andStudent-Teacher Talk, and the Social Construction of Children’s Femininities and Masculinities. Ph.D.thesis, Lancaster University.

Sunderland, J. (1995). “We’re boys, miss!”: finding gendered identities and looking for gendering ofidentities in the foreign language classroom. In S. Mills (ed.) Language and Gender: InterdisciplinaryPerspectives. London: Longman.

Sunderland, J., M. Cowley, F. Abdul Rahim, C. Leontzakou and J. Shattuck. (2000). From bias ‘in thetext’ to ‘teacher talk around the text’: an exploration of teacher discourse and gendered foreign lan-guage textbook texts. Linguistics and Education 11(2): 1- 36.

Tollefson, J. (1995). Language policy, power and inequality. In Tollefson, J. (Ed.). Power and Inequalityin Language Education. Cambridge: CUP.

Tollefson, J. 1991. Planning Language, Planning Inequality. London: Longman.

Vandrick, S. (1999). ‘Who’s afraid of critical feminist pedagogies?’ GALE Newsletter May 1999. (Re-printed from TESOL Matters, 1999 9(1): 9.

Wikeley, F. and Stables, A. (1999). Changes in school students’ approaches to subject option choices: astudy of pupils in the West of England in 1984 and 1996. Educational Research 41(3): 287 – 299.



CBI（Content-based instruction）は、日本の大学でESL学習者を対象に良く使用される教授法である。この教授法は一石二鳥だといえる。一方で学習者に教科の内容知識を与え、もう一方で、学習者の言語能力の向上を図る。しかし学習者のE S L として言語を学びたいという要求を無視して、内容の教授だけを重視する教育は危険である。言語能力の向上のためには以下の４点が必要である。(a)　交渉コミュニケーションの機会、(b)　流暢さを第一義とする読解ストラテジー、(c)　内容より学習者を重視する講義、(d)　形式と意味のバランスの取れた学習ストラテジー。本論文は、CBIの教授法において、教師が内容の教授（トップ・ダウン）を重視するより、学習者の視点（ボトム・アップ）を考慮すれば、言語能力の養成に役立つことを主張している。また、同時に、言語能力開発のための教室での学習活動についても論じている。

Content-Based Instruction (CBI) is an approach to teaching whichintegrates the learning of content with the learning of a second language.The rationale underlying this approach is that a “second language islearned most effectively when used as the medium to conveyinformational content of interest and relevance to the learner” (Brinton,Snow & Wesche, 1989, p.vii). Unlike more traditional approaches tolanguage teaching, which are based around the presentation and practiceof grammatical forms and lexis in decontextualized environments, CBI

provides students with language which is meaningful andcontextualized through authentic materials (usually

readings but also videos, lectures, etc.) basedaround themes. CBI is thus intuitively

appealing because it appears to kill twobirds with one stone: providing

students with content knowledge ina subject area while at the same

time developing ESLproficiency.

This approach toteaching is often realized attertiary level in Japanthrough sustained CBIcourses (Kasper, 2000)where students study a

content area over a sustainedperiod of time, the aim being

to develop languageproficiency and broaden

knowledge of a content area inpreparation for mainstream

courses either at home or overseas.However, there is a danger that

teachers charged with such courses maylean too far to the content side of the divide

while losing sight of the fact that the studentshave various language concerns to be attended to, a

situation which often arises because content is the organizing principlearound which the courses are based (Carson, Taylor, & Fredella, 1997).Teachers may thus supply content at a rate which is counterproductive forlanguage learning, especially if they have a personal interest in the area

V. Michael CribbKansai Gaidai University

Attending toESL Concerns inContent-Based

Instruction


or if they need to meet external curricula requirements. Furthermore, teachers may feel that with largeclasses attending to the individual language concerns of each student is impractical and may therefore fallback on more teacher-centered content-driven instruction.

ESL students are lifelong ESL students, though, and their entry into tertiary education and content-based classes does not remove the fact that they have various language concerns which need to beattended to. These concerns include, but are not limited to: (a) opportunities for negotiatedcommunication (b) appropriate reading materials and tasks which encourage ‘fluency-first’ readingstrategies (c) lectures which allow students to process simultaneously for content and language, and (d)continual development and refinement of learning strategies which strike an appropriate balance betweenform and meaning. This paper looks at each of these in turn and proposes that we reframe our view ofCBI to see it from the bottom-up (i.e. the students’ perspective) rather than the top-down (i.e. the content).A classroom technique for realizing this is subsequently presented.

Negotiated Communication

Modern second language acquisition theory suggests that students need plenty of opportunities for output(Swain, 1985) if they are to improve language proficiency in addition to copious amounts of input(Krashen, 1985). In content-heavy CBI courses that are teacher-centered, genuine sustained opportunitiesfor student output /input are often rare and when they do occur the ensuing communication is often notnegotiated. Negotiation here refers to a number of conversational adjustments which students use in orderto resolve misunderstandings. They include confirmation and comprehension checks, clarificationrequests, repairs, etc. (Pica, 1996). These features push students to modify their output and “exploit theirinterlanguage resources in creative ways” (Pica, Holliday, Lewis, Morgenthaler, 1989, p.64) thusoptimizing the language acquisition process.

A lack of negotiation can arise because students feel overawed with the academic conceptsunderlying the content or fear making mistakes when speaking. Rather than trying to bridgemisunderstandings through negotiation with the teacher and their peers, they may opt to remain silent, asituation which is exasperated by the reluctance of Japanese students to speak out in class anyway. This isoften the case with teacher-fronted classroom discussions, but even when students are divided into smallgroups, they can still be reluctant to negotiate.

How then might a teacher promote negotiated communication in the classroom? I would suggestfirst that teachers consider pair work rather than small groups or class discussions. Even a small group ofthree or four students can inhibit negotiation, especially in the early part of a course when the content isrelatively new. Second, closed tasks where students have definite aims should be chosen over open taskssuch as discussions. One of the simplest and most effective tasks is for a student to read an article andthen present the contents in his own words to another student who takes notes. Third, students need tobecome familiar with the content so that they feel comfortable manipulating its form. Finally, teachersshould not be afraid of having students repeat tasks a second or third time with other students. Bygate(1996) has suggested that repetition can positively help students to acquire language and improveperformance. (The classroom activity to be discussed later will suggest how these four items can beintegrated into a CBI course.)

Reading

CBI appears to be ideal for developing reading skills because it presents students with copious amounts ofreading material thus developing the two systems (Bernhardt, 1991) which are thought to be necessary forefficient reading: a text-driven system where the reader decodes the text, and a knowledge-driven systemwhere the reader uses background schemata to make inferences about the text. Sustained CBI, inparticular, addresses the latter system through narrow reading (Schmitt & Carter, 2000) where studentsfocus on the same topic over a number of texts thus providing the background knowledge that is vital iffluency in reading is to be achieved. However, it is wrong to believe that efficient reading will developsimply because of the large volume of reading assignments that are characteristic of CBI courses. Facedwith such assignments, students can easily fall back on word-for-word processing strategies with a

Cribb: Attending to ESL Concerns in Content-Based Instruction


dictionary and simply fail to acquire a sufficient understanding of the content area.Again, there is a need to view the situation from the bottom-up and design CBI courses which

consider the students’ reading needs rather than the needs of the content area. This calls for in-classsupport, especially in the early part of the course, so that teachers can provide guidance with reading andencourage fluency-first strategies (Brumfit, 1979). Fluency-first is an approach to reading whichemphasizes general understanding of the whole before specific understanding of the parts. Thus whenreading a text, students try first to get a general understanding of the overall content by reading quicklyand allowing non-understandings and unknown words to persist. As they become familiar with the text,there is a gradual movement to an understanding of the parts, eventually focusing on individual sentencesand words, perhaps with some use of a dictionary. One advantage of fluency-first is that it allows studentsto identify key parts which are more central to the text, thus allowing them to focus time and effort onunderstanding these.

Paradoxically, texts which have been simplified and shortened for second language learners canremove the challenge of developing fluency-first strategies. Also, by simplifying texts in terms ofvocabulary and grammar, we provide the students with “artificial language [that] lacks naturalredundancy, [thus] depriving students of multiple cues for comprehension” (Stryker & Leaver, 1997, p.9).Authentic materials which have been written for native speakers are more appropriate provided teachershave the expertise to ‘shelter’ the texts. Stryker & Leaver note:

If the teacher knows how to effectively ‘shelter’ the texts, making them accessible to the students attheir proficiency level, most students can benefit from the use of authentic material in any content area,even if their linguistic skills are minimally developed. (Stryker & Leaver, 1997, p.8 )

In other words, it is not the complexity of the text that counts but the tasks and strategies thatteachers use to enable students to gain access to the content. By encouraging students to adopt anddevelop these strategies throughout the course, we provide them with the means to handle the moredemanding reading tasks of the mainstream environment.

Lectures

Whilst the lecture is seen by some as a rather old and lackluster way of supplying content, it is likely to bearound for many years to come, particularly in university CBI courses where academic concepts and

content knowledge form a large part of the curricula. Listening to lectures, therefore, is an important skillthat most students need to develop. Given this, how can teachers deliver content through lectures whichallow students to simultaneously process for content and language?

The traditional lecture process consists of the lecture itself plus a follow-up where the contents ofthe lecture are expanded on (either through an exercise or further reading). For students to fully benefitfrom this process, though, there is an important ‘priming’ stage which needs to take place before thelecture (see diagram). In the priming stage, the students’ attention is focused on the topic to be discussedand their knowledge level is brought up as close as possible to the content to be delivered in the lecture.One of the simplest ways of effecting this is to have students read the full text of the lecture a few days inadvance (which is feasible if a course book is being used). The teacher can then lecture fairly closely tothe contents of the text which during the early parts of the course should be as close as possible. Someteachers may feel that this will reveals their “hand” in advance and may remove any interest for thestudents. However, this is rarely the case with language learners who need as much priming as they canget to allow for simultaneous processing of content and language. Well-primed students can focus on



parts they don’t fully understand, deepen their understanding of parts they do, take more meaningful notesand ask more probing questions. If priming is not carried out then the lecture often becomes an exercise insurvival with students copying anything the teacher writes on the board and catching up by reading on thesubject outside of class. (See Drummond, 2000 for sheltering techniques during the lecture.)

Learning Strategies

Learning strategies are “steps or actions taken by learners to improve the development of their languageskills” (Oxford & Cohen, 1992, p.1). In CBI courses, especially mainstream courses, teachers oftenassume that students are proficient language learners with well-developed learning strategies, but this isnot always the case, and students need continued support to help them develop and refine their learningstrategies.

One core strategy is balancing form with meaning. Form is often backgrounded in CBI courseswhere a focus on meaning and content knowledge take priority. Second language acquisition theory,however, suggests that a degree of focus on form is necessary to prevent fossilization and backsliding.Rutherford and Sharwood-Smith (1985) propose raising students’ conscious awareness of forms topromote noticing (Schmidt & Frota, 1986) of items in the input and students’ own output. Since thenotions of “consciousness-raising” and “noticing” rely heavily on the subjective state of individualstudents’ minds, it seems appropriate to suggest that learners need to take an active part in this processmore.

As a way of bringing this to students’ attention and promoting a focus on form, I have developed atechnique which I call “The Passport”. The Passport is a small vocabulary book which a student keeps inhis shirt pocket. When he “notices” an item in the language (vocabulary, grammatical point orpronunciation) he takes out the book and writes the item down. Later, he attempts to learn the items hehas noticed, and subsequently use them in output. This introduces students to an important learning cycleof notice-capture-learn-use. Teachers can then explain that if any part of the cycle is broken, acquisitionof new forms will not take place.

Working with Content - A classroom activity

Having discussed four ESL concerns which are central to language learning, how can the teacher go aboutintegrating them into CBI courses without sacrificing the content too much? In this section, I will describean activity which is designed to shelter content so that it can be delivered at an appropriate rate to thestudents while at the same time attending to the ESL concerns mentioned above. While this is not the onlytechnique for realizing this, it is the mainstay of my CBI classes and has, I feel, proved to be successfulover a number of years.

(1) First, gather four articles based around a common theme. These should not betoo short or too simple. Authentic academic texts about two pages in length aresuitable in most cases.

(2) Distribute the articles evenly throughout the class a few days in advance so thateach student has one article. Instruct students to read their articles in detail andbe ready for a 10 minute presentation.

(3) In class, divide the students into four groups (A, B, C & D) so that each groupconsists of students who have read the same article (see diagram). Give themtime to discuss the contents. Encourage peer support. Walk round and providehelp where necessary.



(4) Pair up each student in group A with one student from group B to create dyads.Do the same with groups C and D (see diagram).

(5) One student in each dyad presents the contents of his article for approximately10 minutes to his partner who listens, asks questions and takes notes. After this,the students reverse positions and the partner presents the contents of his articlefor approximately 10 minutes.

(6) Students return to their original groups. Each group can now either discuss thedetails of the article that they listened to as a group or they can read the articleindividually. (Since they have listened to a description of the article, encouragethem to use fluency-first reading strategies.)

(7) Repeat steps (4)-(6) two more times so that each student has presented his articlethree times and has listened to descriptions of the other three articles. The tablebelow shows all three match ups:

1st Match 2nd Match 3rd MatchA ÷÷ B A ÷÷ D A ÷÷ CC ÷÷ D C ÷÷ B B ÷÷ D

(8) Lecture to the students on one or all of the articles. Carefully review the detailsof the articles and add extra information as required. Since the students havebeen working with the articles over a number of days, they are now well-primedto receive the contents in the form of a lecture.

(9) Follow-up (optional): Get students to summarize the contents of their article in aone-page written report.

Comments on activity:

* Just reading the article once or twice at step (2) is not sufficient. Students need tohave a deeper level of understanding in order to be able to present the contentsto another student.

* Have students prepare mind maps at step (3) or something similar which willencourage them to construct their own sentences while presenting rather thansimply reading the text.

* At step (5), encourage students to circumlocute around problems and negotiatemisunderstandings. The listening partner should be constantly requestingclarification, confirming and checking understanding.

* At step (8), you can ask individual students to lecture to the class. Since they haveread their article and presented it three times, they should be ready for this task.

* The activity includes repetition of task which works on Bygate’s (1996) principlethat repetition can positively help students to acquire language and improveperformance.

Conclusion

In this paper, I’ve noted how CBI, while seeming to provide ideal conditions for learning both contentand language, can lean too heavily toward content while neglecting the language concerns of ESLstudents. The solution to this dilemma, I suggest, is that teachers should reframe CBI and look at their



courses from the bottom-up, i.e. the students’ perspective, rather than the top-down which considers thecontent. This is possible if we keep in mind that ESL students are lifelong ESL students and will alwayshave language related needs which need to be attended to even after they enter tertiary education andcontent-based curricula. I hope that this paper has gone some way towards emphasizing this point and hasgiven teachers some practical advice on how to achieve this.

References

Bernhardt, E.B. (1991). Reading development in a second language. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Brinton, D. M., Snow, M., A., & Wesche, M. B. (1989). Content-based second language instruction.Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.

Brumfit, C. (1979). ‘Communicative’ language teaching: an educational perspective. In C. J. Brumfit &K. Johnson (Eds.). The communicative approach to language teaching (pp. 183–191). Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

Bygate, M. (1996). Effects of task repetition: Appraising the developing language of learners. In J. Willis& D. Willis (Eds.). Challenge and change in language teaching. (pp.136-146). London: Heinemann.

Carson, J.G., Taylor, J.A. & Fredella, L. (1997). The role of content in task-based EAP instruction. In M.A. Snow & D. M. Brinton (Eds.). The content-based classroom (pp. 367-370). White Plains, NY:Longman.

Drummond, T. (2000, November) A brief summary of the best practices in college teaching. RetrievedNovember 24, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu/~eceprog/bstprac.html

Kasper, L.F. (2000). Sustained content study and the Internet: Developing functional and academicliteracies. In M. Pally (Ed.). Sustained content-based teaching in academic ESL/EFL: A practicalapproach (pp. 54-71). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Krashen, S.D. (1985). Input Hypothesis: Issues and implications. New York: Longman.

Oxford, R. & Cohen, A. (1992). Language learning strategies: Crucial issues of concept and classifica-tion. Applied Language Learning, 3, 1-35.

Pica, T. (1996). The essential role of negotiation in the communicative classroom. JALT Journal, 18, 241-268.

Pica, T., Holliday, L., Lewis, N. & Morgenthaler, L. (1989). Comprehensible output as an outcome oflinguistic demands on the learner. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11, 63-90.

Rutherford, W.E., & Sharwood-Smith, M. (1985). Consciousness raising and universal grammar. AppliedLinguistics, 6, 274-282.

Schmidt, R.W. & Frota, S.N. (1986). Developing basic conversational ability in a second language: A casestudy of an adult learner of Portuguese. In R.R. Day (Ed.). Talking to learn: Conversations in secondlanguage acquisition. (pp. 237-322). Mass: Newbury House.

Schmitt, N. & Carter, R. (2000). The lexical advantages of narrow reading for second language learners.TESOL Journal, 9(1), 4-9.

Stryker, S.B. & Leaver, B.L. (1997). Content-based instruction: From theory to practice. In S.B. Stryker& B.L. Leaver (Eds.). Content-based instruction in foreign language education. (pp. 141-173). Wash-ington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensibleoutput in its development. In S. Gass & C. Madden (Eds.). Input in second language acquisition. (pp.235-253). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.



Extensive Reading (ER) is reading a lot at a fairly easy level so that whatis read is comprehended without the use of a dictionary. The purpose ofan ER program is to increase English language proficiency, withparticular increases in reading level and speed. This paper will firstpresent the components of an established ER program and then describepreparation needed to begin such a program: setting up the library;preparing teachers and teaching materials; preparing assessment tools.

イクステンシブ・リーディング（ER）とは、一般的に、辞書を使用せずに理解できるかなり易しいレベルのものを多読することと定義されている。E R プログラムの全般的な目的は、言語能力を高めることにあり、特に、リーディングのレベル、スピード力のアップ、また読む楽しさを増すことも期待される。プログラムを始める際、最終的に確立されたプログラム全体を理解しておくことが有効的である。従って、初めに最終的なプログラムの構成要素にふれ、次に、プログラムを始めるに為に必要な細かい過程について述べていきたい。まず、E R ライブラリーと、指導法における準備、及び考慮すべき点についてみていこう。

Components of an established program

Table 1 provides an overview of an established ERprogram. With a clear understanding of what a

program will eventually look like, it ispossible to make effective choices even

in the beginning stages ofdevelopment.

Setting up an ER Program

The process of starting an ERprogram can be broken intothree areas of preparation: (a)the library, (b) teaching, and(c) assessment. Setting upthe library involves orderingand organizing the books.

Teaching preparation refersto steps that teachers will

make to 1) learn about ER, and2) to implement ER in the

classroom using class sets andself-selected titles. Assessment

tools include pre and post tests ofreading level and speed, and students’

affective responses.

Library Preparation

Support for the ER library may come from the institution, butif it does not, there are ways to cover the cost of the books. First, studentscan be charged a “book fee.” Alternatively, teachers could pool theirresearch funding (Helgesen 1997) to purchase books. Finally, it may be

Lois Scott-ConleySchool for International

Training

Startingan

ExtensiveReadingProgram


possible to solicit sponsorship from local businesses. When ordering graded readers, student interestshould be one of the strongest considerations, so that student motivation is high. At the Japanese women’scollege where this author works, the most popular genres are Romances (especially with young,contemporary characters), Mysteries, and Action stories. Non-fiction and short stories are notrecommended for most ER programs. The benefits of ER occur when reading is done quickly andsmoothly. Stories inherently speed the reader along as the plot develops. Non-fiction requires a closeattention that can result in a stop-and-start style of reading. Careful attention is also required whenreading the beginning exposition of stories. A book of short stories, requires that exposition be readseveral times in order to cover the same number of pages as a novel, resulting in a slower average readingspeed (Davies, 2000:14).

Graded readers are available through several major publishers whose series’ often use differentsystems to indicate level. Consistency within a program using different series can be maintained bydeveloping a standard based on the number of headwords in the readers. Table 2 below details a samplesystem. Correlating TOEIC scores are adapted from Hill (1997:25).

Table 2

Level Number of headwords Approximation ofStudents’ TOEIC score

Level 1 300Level 2 600 150+Level 3 700-1200 250+Level 4 1300-1700 300-450Level 5 1800-2300 500-650Level 6 3000 730 and up

Scott-Conley: Starting an Extensive Reading Program

Table 1

Library • Includes a variety of high interest graded readers (and possibly magazinesand not EFL materials) organized by level.

• A clear check out system exists.

Expectations for students • Read 500 pages each semester at the appropriate level.• Demonstrate that they have read.• Record the number of pages read, keeping a running total

Expectations for teachers • Address student motivation• Begin ER using a class set• Teach reading strategies• Check reports of student reading• Support students in self-selecting titles• Do follow up activities in class to expand reading

Assessment • Pre and Posttests of level, speed, and enjoyment.

ER Coordinator • In charge of books, curriculum, and teacher support

Environment • Posters, cartoons, book reviews, student comments to promote reading.


Books should be organized by level in the ER library. An economical system has the books in boxeswith the levels marked outside the boxes. On the inside of the back cover of each book, a B5 envelopecan be cut and taped. The book’s card is kept in this envelope, or in a standup file when the book ischecked out. The cards include basic information at the top: title, author, book level, copy number; andcolumns for the student’s name, teacher’s initials, and the dates checked out and returned. Cards can bemade using photocopied stock paper.

The majority of books in the first year of a program will be at, and just above, the level of most ofthe students. A total number of books equal to four times the number of students is a useful guide (Davies,2000:20). Multiple copies of interesting titles at each level are more beneficial than one copy of numeroustitles at each level. Hill (1997:20) suggests roughly 15 titles per level as a way of encouraging readers tomove on. His institute, the well-known Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading, has up to 9 levels,however, so if a program has fewer levels, with a larger spread of headwords, 15 titles per level may notbe sufficient.

Each program will want to establish clear guidelines for checking out books. First, decisions willneed to be made about when the library will be open. Options include regular work hours (i.e. 8:00 –5:00), or more limited times when a teacher is available. A pre-determined check-out period may be used,and replacement costs may be charged if books are lost.

Teaching Preparation

Wanting to learn.Knowing how to learn.Having a chance to learn.

These are the three factors are the basic “ingredients” for learning (Murphey, 1998:84). This nextsection will discuss preparation for teaching needed to foster each of these factors within an ER program.First, ways to address student motivation will be discussed (Wanting to learn). Next, reading strategieswill be presented. Finally, systems used when students are actively reading will be described (Having achance to learn).

Addressing motivationThe first step in approaching the classroom is to sell the students on ER. To do this teachers will want tolearn about the benefits of ER. A excellent source for a wide variety of ER information is the internet ERMain Page <http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/er/>. In addition to reading about ER, teachers willwant to read as many graded readers as possible at their students’ levels. With this background, teacherswill be able to present ER in class and share how it can be useful and fun. They can also recommend ERbooks with enthusiasm and knowledge. When introducing ER, teachers may want to take advantage ofpeer and near peer role models (Murphey, 1996:20). Videotapes of interviews with students talking aboutthe program are an especially powerful source of motivation. Handouts or posters with comments fromstudents can also be made.

Teaching Reading Strategies

Students participating in an ER program are expected to read quickly and smoothly. By explicitlyteaching reading strategies to students, teachers can help them read more effectively and thus with moreenjoyment. Reading strategies can be divided into the three phases described in Table 3. These phases arerepeated each time the student reads a section from her book. For more on Guessing, Speed Card, andChunking, see the Appendix.



Table 3

Pre-reading Stage Relax and get comfortable.Use positive self-talk to build confidence and encouragement.Predict what will happen.Make questions you want answered in the section your will read.Create clear mental images of characters and setting.Imagine that you are one of the characters in the story and take on

her/his thoughts and feelings.Mental review of what was read before (when continuing a book.)

During Reading Stage Guess when you don’t know for sure.Use a Speed Card to focus attention and foster speed.Use Chunking: marking digestible chunks of words to improve

reading in thought groups instead of word by word.Visualize the story as it happens.Assign voices to the characters and hear them clearly when

they speak.

After Reading Stage Share your reaction to the section read with someone–in L1 or L2.Summarize, or retell in L1 or L2.Write down new characters and their relationships to others if

it is getting complicated to remember.Listen to a tape or a fluent speaker read a familiar section

while following along at the same speed.

Reading class setsIt’s useful to begin the ER program with everyone in the class reading the same book together.

Teachers can use this time to generate excitement about reading by having fun with the stories and byslowly introducing reading strategies to help students read efficiently. The class set should be easy enoughfor everyone in class. Teachers will need to prepare in-class activities to help students understand the textand practice language skills other than reading. These will include ways:

to activate schemafor student to react to and discuss the storyto support and check comprehension: 1) surface level check, 2) facilitative and probing

questions referring to why, who; and 3) attitude and character developmentdiscussions (Davies, 2000: 31-32)

In planning activities, teachers can make use of numerous complimentary materials available frompublishers of graded readers. Recommended activities can also be found on the ER website cited aboveand in Andersen (1999), Day (1993, 1999), Helgesen (1997), Nuttal (1996), and other books on ER. Fromthe beginning of their ER experience, students should read 8-10 pages a night, so teachers will want toplan the class-set schedule to accommodate this. One to three class sets should provide students with theskills and confidence to move into reading independently (Davies, 2000: 9).

Reading self-selected titlesPreparation for incorporating independent reading into class can be divided into a focus on activities (forbuilding motivation and expanding the reading experience) and a focus on logistics (mainly of assessingand keeping track of reading). One important goal of an ER program is that the students will enjoyreading. Much initial planning focuses on ways to foster student motivation. When planning for students’



independent reading, the teacher will want to continue this focus and even revisit some of activities usedat the beginning of the program. The teacher should prepare oral “book pitches,” and encourage studentsto make them too. Student book pitches can be given orally or in written form. The program at thisauthor’s institution has started semesters with a Book Festival that has returning students compete to“sell” their favorite book to other students.

Expansion activities for independent reading will be partially determined by the type of course thatincludes the ER. Discussion skills, debate, and conversation strategy training lend themselves easily to thecreation of in-class activities that draw upon student independent reading. Language foci found in aconversation or writing course text can be expanded by using students independent reading as content orfor retelling, describing, or discussion. See references listed above for a variety of further activities.

Students are expected to read a minimum of 20 minutes a day. Final grades for ER can be assignedby averaging a weekly grade with a grade for the final number of pages read. Table 4 outlines a gradingsystem for a 13-week semester.

Table 4

Weekly End of the Semester

A 38 pages A 500 pagesB 28 pages B 370 pagesC 20 pages C 260 pagesD 10 pages D 130 pages

Helgesen (1997:32) proposes weighting the pages of the books by level in order to encouragestudents to move up, and to read at appropriate levels. Helgesen’s system is as follows:

Level 1: 1 page = .5 pageLevel 2: 1 page = .75 pageLevel 3: 1 page = 1 pageLevels 4 - 6: 1 page = 1.25 pages

Though students need to demonstrate that they have read their books, they should not be asked tocomplete taxing forms in order to do so. Reading fluently and with enjoyment is key, so reading reportsshould be easy to fill out and should be referred to in a positive way. (i.e. Pleasure Reading, IndependentReading, and Fluency Reading reports.) A written report could include: (a) student name, (b) book title,(c) level, (d) number of pages read, (e) total number of pages read to date, (f) How did you like the book?(1 - 4 stars), (g) your reaction to the story, characters, or writing in the book, (h) favorite part or character(optional), and (i) comments on reading level. Reports should be kept together and all turned in each timethey are collected. Teacher’s comments on the reports can be quite brief, but upbeat. As an option towritten reports, students could give oral reports to the class, or one-on-one (with the teacher or audiotaped with another student). They could choose from a variety of creative projects: movie style poster;original visual with captions; a written review published in a book or on a website; a cartoon strip, toname a few.

Preparing testingTesting in an ER program is used at the beginning and end of the year to assess the students’ readingspeed and level. Reading speed can be tested using a 250-word passage from a graded reader (a littleabove the suspected class average). Time the reading and give ten relatively easy True/False questions.Students should read fast enough to get about 70% of the questions right. If they get all the questions rightthey are reading too slowly–word by word. Tell them this. (If time permits, teachers may wish to schedule



in regular speed tests to help students pace themselves and provide them with an indicator of theirprogress.) For more details on making and giving speed tests, see Nuttal (1996:57).

Level Assessment can be done in several ways. The simplest is for students to read sample passagesfrom graded readers at various levels until they find a level that has an average of two to three new wordson a page. Another easily made test involves taking the first 200 words from a reader at each level anddeleting every seventh word. Students fill in the blanks and placed in one (or two) levels below wherethey “ceased to show adequate understanding” (Nuttal 1996:215). Pre and post assessment of students’sense of confidence, enjoyment, and motivation is recommended in addition to the above skills tests.Statements such as I enjoy reading; I feel confident reading; I want to read in English can be followed bya five point scale ranging from I agree strongly to I disagree strongly. Student comments could also besolicited.

Conclusion

In this paper, processes have been described for setting up an ER library and for teaching and testingpreparation needed to start an ER program. Throughout the paper, the importance of addressing studentmotivation has been highlighted. A successful ER program will foster motivation, teach students how tolearn through ER, and give them plenty of supported practice at reading.

References

Andersen, N. (1999). Exploring Second Language Reading: Issues and strategies. Boston: Heinle andHeinle.

Davies, K. (2000). The ER Book: A teachers’ manual. Unpublished.

Day, R. (Ed.). (1993). New ways in teaching reading. Alexandria: TESOL (Teachers of English to Speak-ers of Other Languages).

Day, R. & J. Bamford. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. New York: Cam-bridge University Press.

Helgesen, M. (1997). Bring those books back into the classroom: Tasks for extensive reading. The Lan-guage Teacher, 21(5), 53-54.

Hill, D. (1997). Setting up an extensive reading programme: Practical tips. The Language Teacher, 21(5),17-20.

Murphey, T. (1998). Language hungry. Tokyo: Macmillan Language House.

Murphey, T. (1996). Near peer role models. In Teacher talking to teacher 4(3), 21.

Nuttal, C. (1996). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language. Hong Kong: Macmillan Heinemann.

Waring, R. (1997). Graded and extensive reading–questions and answers. The Langauge Teacher, 21(5),9-12.



Appendix A. Reading Strategies

Guessing A strategy for building comfort with low amounts ambiguity.Activity A: Gapped text.

Step 1: Using a graded reader passage, leave a number of words blank so that itstill makes sense. Students 1) choose the best title for the text, 2) answer somesimple comprehension questions, 3) guess the missing words, and 4) check with adictation.

Step 2: Give the next section of the text without blanks, but either substitutedifficult words for easier ones or leave in more difficult words so that the gist ofthe story is not lost even if the words are not understood. Students answercomprehension questions. (Adapted from Nuttal, 1996:65)

Activity B: Inferring from context and schemaStudents guess parts of speech and meaning from nonsense words in context. Ex:The sploony urdle departed. See Nuttal (1996:69-72) for further activities to helpwith inferring.

Activity C: Training on when to look up wordsWhen students meet an unknown word in a graded reader, the best practice is tokeep reading. See if the meaning becomes clear by the end of the chapter. Or, is itpossible to understand the story without knowing that word? If both answers arenegative, or the student really wants to know that word, then look it up.

Chunking A strategy for consciously reading in “chunks” rather than word by word.Activity: Chunking training

Step 1: Using a text familiar to the students, arrange a short sample invertical chunks.

Once upon a timethere wasa womanwho lived alone.

Students read silently while pulling their finger down the middle of the text.

Step 2: Students read again silently, but stop after each line, look up and saythe phrase to a partner (Look up and say technique.)

Step 3: Show sentences chunked horizontally so that thought groups and phrasesare not separated (Our mother/has gone/to visit you.), and so that they are (Yourgrandmother has/caught a/cold.). Students notice the differences.

Step 4: Students mark the chunks in new sentences, compare their answers, andget feedback. (There should be no more than 7 words in a chunk.)



Step 5: Students mark chunks lightly in pencil in their readers. (They can eraselater.)

Step 6: Repeat the Look up and say technique. 100% accuracy is not requiredwhen speaking as the goal of chunking is to get the gist of the thought group.

Using a Speedcard A strategy for increasing reading speed by pulling an index style card downthe page of the book at a smooth speed. This encourages smooth, continuousmovement of the eyes.



教科書においては学習者のレベルにあわせて簡略化(simplified)されたテキストが用いられることが多いが、そのためにやや不自然で(“deliberateproducts”)、ともすると逆にわかりにくい文章になっていることがある(Davies, 1984)。しかしながら、もともとネイティブの子ども向けに書かれた”authentic”なテキストでは、やさしくかかれているにもかかわらず、不自然さは見受けられない。そこで、「Time Magazine」と「Time forKids」の記事を比較することにより、simplifiedされてはいるが、authen-ticなテキストが、どのような要因により構成されているのかを分析する。分析にあたってはW e b 上にある電子化されたテキストをもとに、文法標識(タグ)をつけたコーパスを作成した。本研究では、それぞれのコーパスにおける語彙や文法タグの頻度を計算し、その相互関係などを統計的に分析した上で、結果を従来のリーダビリティの公式による読みやすさの指標と比較する。

Corpus-based Analysis of ReadabilityIn most cases, simplified texts adapted to the learners’ level of readingare used for Japanese text books, but sometimes those simplified textsgive ambiguity and unnaturalness for readers as they are ÅgdeliberateproductsÅh (Davies, 1984). However, ÅgauthenticÅh texts writtenoriginally for native children don’t seem unnatural, though they arewritten in simple words. In this study, I analyze ÅgTIME magazineÅhand ÅgTIME for KidsÅh and clarify what factors construct those

simplified but authentic texts. In analyses, I built twogrammatically tagged corpora, based on

electronic texts, which are available onWWW. I calculate the frequencies of

words and grammatical tags of eachcorpus and analyze the interaction

between them statistically, and thencompare them with readability

scores.

1. 目的教科書においては学習

者のレベルにあわせて簡略化(simplified)されたテキストが用いられること

が多いが、そのためにやや不自然で(“deliberate

products”)、ともすると逆にわかりにくい文章になっ

ていることがある( D a v i es ,1984)。しかしながら、もと

もとネイティブの子ども向けに書かれた”authentic”なテキスト

では、やさしくかかれているにもかかわらず、不自然さは見受けられない。

そこで、「Time Magazine」と「Time forKids」の記事を比較することにより、simplifiedされ

てはいるが、authenticなテキストが、どのような要因により構成されているのかを分析する。分析にあたってはWeb上にある電子化されたテキストをもとに、文法標識( タグ) をつけたコーパスを作成した。本研究では、それぞれのコーパスにおける語彙や文法

長沼君主東京外国語大学

大学院博士後期課

コーパスに基づいた

リーダビリティの測定とその教育的応用


タグの頻度を計算し、その相互関係などを統計的に分析した上で、結果を従来のリーダビリティの公式による読みやすさの指標と比較する。

2. リーダビリティJohnson & Johnson(1998)はBaby TalkやForeigner Talkなどの話し言葉における簡略化

の要素として、「構造の単純さ」(structural simplification)、「提示(発話)の明確さ」(clarification of presentation)、「感情の表出」(expression of affect)の３つをあげているが(p.288)、これをリーディングにおける簡略化に当てはめると、それぞれ、「文法や語彙の単純さ」、「レイアウトや書体、図などによる見やすさ」、「ジャーゴンや口語表現の使用によるなじみやすさ」と考えることができる。リーディングの研究では、これら３つの要素のうち「構造の単純さ」については、リーダビリティとして、文章の読みやすさの客観的な評価を試みている(詳細についてはKlare(1978)、清川(1992、2000)を参照)。リーダビリティ(読みやすさ)は公式などによって具体的な数値として求めることができるが、それらは「語彙の複雑さ」と「文構造の複雑さ」を計算することにより算出される。

例えば、Fleschの公式(Flesch, 1948)では「単語の長さ」と「文の長さ」、Dale-Challの公式(Dale & Chall, 1948)では3000語の語彙リストに基づいた「難易度の高い語の比率」と「文の長さ」、Fryのグラフ(Fry, 1968)では「シラブルの多さ」と「文の長さ」、SMOGの公式(McLaughlin, 1969)では「シラブルの多い語(3つ以上)の頻度」、Fog Indexでは「シラブルの多い語の頻度」と「文の長さ」といったように(Klare, 1978)、それぞれある客観的な変数を基にリーダビリティを求めているが、語彙の複雑としては、シラブルや文字数、難語率といったいくつかの変数がとられているのに対して、文構造の複雑さに関しては文の長さを測定しているのみである。この傾向はクローズ・テスト(cloze test)の結果によるテキストの難易度の基準をもとに、より妥当性の高い公式が開発されるようになっても変わらず、ボーマスの公式においても単語の長さと難語率、文の長さを組み合わせているだけであり(清川, 2000)、新Dale-Challeの公式(Challe & Dale, 1995)においても、手続きが精密になっただけで測定に用いられている変数に変化は見られない。

そこで本研究では、文の構造を測る要素として、「文の長さ」に加えて「受動文の比率」と、より複雑なものでは、文法タグをつけたコーパスを分析することによる「品詞の頻度」を用いることにする。また、語彙の複雑さとしては「単語の長さ」の他に同じくコーパスを用い「人称語」と「抽象語」の比率を求める。清川(2000)は従来の公式で予測できない要因の１つとして、単語や文などの持つ抽象度をあげているが、無生物主語をとる受動態の文の比率や抽象語率は抽象度の高さを、人称語率は逆に抽象度の低さを表しているということができる。

従来の公式では手作業による計算だったこともあり、文章の一部を取り出して分析にかけることが多かったが、このように電子化されたテキストを用いコーパスを作成し、コンピュータソフトウェアで頻度などを算出することにより、テキスト全体の分析を行うことができ、より正確な情報を期待することができる(コーパスについてより詳しくは、斉藤ら(1998)、鷹家・須賀(1998)、タグづけについてはGarside et al.(1997)を参照)。これは英語の得点の平均を知るのに、最頻値や中央値ではなく平均値を調べるのと同じで、データの分布の偏りによる歪みが少なくなるため、この点でもコーパスを用いたリーダビリティの測定の意義は大きい。

しかしながら、このようなコーパス分析で処理できる語彙や構造の単純さによる読みやすさは、内容の簡略化によって生じる情報の不足による理解の難しさを説明していない。そこで本研究では、TIME for Kidsなどのもともと子どもを対象として書かれた"authentic"なテキストでは、大人に向けて書かれたテキストを簡略化するのに比べて、言語、内容面での簡略化によるわかりづらさの影響がない、もしくは低いのではないかと仮定した上で、語彙や文構造といったテキストの要素が、どう全体的なリーダビリティへ影響しているのかを分析する。比較の対象としては、大人に向けて書かれたTIME Magazineを、語彙や構造の単純化が行われておらず、情報不足も起こっていないと仮定した上で分析することにする。コーパスの分析においては、できるだけ同じ条件のコーパスを比較することが重要となるが、同じ雑誌というジャンルで、類似のトピックを扱っていると思われるこれらのコーパスの比較により、リーダビリティの度合いによる構造の差異を明確化することができるものと思われる。

Naganuma: A Corpus-based Analysis of Readability


3. 研究Ⅰ－タグなしコーパスの分析－

3.1 テキストテキストとしては「TIME magazine」 (Jan 11, 1999 ﾐ Aug 30, 1999)の”Cover Stories”

と「TIME for Kids 」(Sep 24, 1999 ﾐ Dec 10, 1999) の”Top Stories”, “In the News”,“Whoﾕs News” を用いた。これらのテキストはTIME Magazineのウェブページ(http://www.pathfinder.com/time/)より電子化された形で入手することが可能である。「TIME forKids」はWorld Report EditionとNews Scoop Editionとに分かれており、それぞれアメリカの小学校4-6年生、2-3年生を対象としている。集めたテキストにはヘッダーと呼ばれる文章の情報を表すタグがつけられ、結果、28.5万語のTIMEコーパスと2.2万語のTFKコーパスを構築した。

3.2 分析リーダビリティの公式としては分析の簡便さから、Wordによって算出することのできる

「Flesch Reading Ease」と「Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level」を用いた。Flesch Reading Ease(RE) は「音節／100語(WL)」と「語／文(SL)」を測定したもので、RE = 206.835－0.846wl－1.015slの式で算出できる(0-30:難、90-100:易)(Klare, 1978)。Grade Level(GL)はその得点をアメリカの小学生の学年で表したものであり、感覚的に把握しやすくなっている。また、受動文の比率も同様にWordによって求めた。

抽象語、人称語については、WordSmithTools(http://www.liv.ac.uk/̃ms2928/index.htm)を用い分析を行った。WordSmithToolsはコンコーダンスのためのソフトウェアであり、単語や共起語を含む文を抜き出したり、頻度を算出することができる。Fleschの別の公式にHuman Interest(HI)という「人称語／100語(PW)」と「人称文／100文(PS)」からリーダビリティを求めた指標(HI = 3.635pw＋0.314ps)があるが(Klare, 1978)、今回の分析においては方法の簡便さから人称語率のみを扱う。人称語率としては人称代名詞と所有代名詞、抽象語率としては-tion,-ment,-ness,-ity語尾を持つ名詞の総語数に対する頻度を算出した。

これらの値はテキストごとに求められ、t検定によりTIMEコーパスとTFKコーパスにおける平均値の比較が行われた。また、WordSmithToolsによるキーワード分析を行い、各コーパスの単語の頻度リストを作成し、片方のコーパスにのみ顕著にみられる語をリストアップした。

3.3 結果と考察

総語数字／語語／文受動文人称語抽象語 RE GL

TIME 285,490 4.9 19.4 9.5% 6.4% 1.6% 52.1 10.3

TFK 21,688 4.7 13.1 7.0% 5.4% 1.5% 65.5 7.3

ｐ値－ .018 .000 .045 .083 .239 .000 .000

リーダビリティ得点はRE、GLともにTFKコーパスの方が読みやすいことを示している。しかしながら、その内訳をみると、単語の文字数については、統計的に有意な差はみられたものの( p<.05 )、数値上、ほとんど差は見られなかった。１文あたりの単語数は有意な差がみられ、実際にも６語ほどの差があるため、簡略化されたテキストのリーダビリティを高めているのは文の長さである可能性を示唆している。受動文に関しては有意にTFKコーパスで低いかった。人称語と抽象語に関しては有意な差がみられなかった。

これらの結果から言える簡略化されたテキストの特徴としては、１文あたりの語数が少なく、受動態の使用頻度が低いものであると言える一方で、長い単語や、抽象度の高い単語を多



く用いると弊害となるとは言えないということが言えよう。キーワード分析の結果としては、that, of, as, would, if, andなどの機能語がTIMEコーパスにおいて有意に多くみられた。逆に、TFKコーパスで多く見られたものとしては、各記事のテーマとなったような名詞があがり、これらの要因もテキストのリーダビリティに影響しているものと思われる。

4. 研究Ⅱ－文法タグ付きコーパスの分析－

4.1 テキストテキストとしては「TIME magazine」(11 Jan, 1999 ﾐ 31 Dec 1999の”Cover Stories”、

44.5万語、1－4月までタグ付き)と「TIME for Kids」(11 Jan, 1999 ﾐ 31 Dec 1999の”TopStories”, “In the News”, “Whoﾕs News”、5.5万語、すべてタグ付き) を用いた。コーパスの文法タグづけに当たっては、CLAWS POS Tagger (UCREL, Lancaster University:)による、CLAWS 7 tagset (148 grammatical tags, 96-7% accuracy, cf. Trrible, 1999)を用いた(http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/ucrel/claws)。

4.2 分析分析にあたってマイナーなタグをグループ化し、観察された104のタグを25のグループに

まとめた後、t検定によりそれぞれのコーパスにおける頻度の平均の比較を行った。また、文法タグの頻度は標準化され、MD/MF (multi-feature/multi-dimensional)分析を参考に(Biber,1988, 1985; Biber et al., 1988)、主因子法、プロマックス回転による因子分析を行った。さらに、TFKとTIMEコーパスにおける因子得点を求め、t検定により平均の差を分析することにより、それぞれのコーパスで顕著な因子を特定した。

4.3 結果と考察

総語数総語彙種／語字／語語／文

TIME 444,385 2,514 48.9 4.7 23.5

TFK 54,282 339 64.5 4.5 16.0

ｐ値－－ .000 .540 .000

単語の文字数については、有意な差(p<.05)はみられない一方で、１文あたりの単語数は有意な差がみられ、前回の結果と一致した。語彙数(type)の総語数(token)に対する比率は、TFKコーパスで有意に多く、簡略化されたコーパスで単語の種類が少ないとは言えないことが示唆される。

TFKコーパスにおいて有意に頻度の高いタグ (1000語中の標準化された頻度, p<.05)

AT AT1 CC II JJ NN NP PPH RR VB VH VV

TIME 46.8 23.0 26.8 86.6 64.1 186.5 42.7 23.7 46.3 31.1 10.8 93.2

TFK 59.9 29.0 28.9 100.2 67.5 251.7 68.9 28.4 49.4 37.8 12.6 120.3

＊冠詞(AT,AT1), 等位接続詞(CC), II(前置詞), JJ(形容詞), 名詞(NN), 固有名詞(NP), PPH(3人称代名詞), 副詞(RR), be動詞(VB), have動詞(VH), 動詞(VV)



TIMEコーパスにおいて有意に頻度の高いタグ (1000語中の標準化された頻度, p<.05)

CS DD PPI PPY UH VM

TIME 20.2 14.9 9.6 4.6 0.8 13.1

TFK 19.6 14.7 8.5 2.3 0.5 12.2

＊従属接続詞(CS), 限定詞(DD), 1人称・2人称代名詞(PPI, PPY), 間投詞(UH), 助動詞(VM)

TFKコーパスでは、内容語が多く見られ、前回のキーワード分析の結果と一致した。TFKコーパスにおいてはより多くの等位接続詞が用いられ、従属接続詞は少なかった。また、１・２人称が少なく、3 人称が多いことから、より客観的な文が多いということも言えるだろう。副詞はTFKコーパスで多く見られたが、より細かく１つ１つのタグで比較すると、程度の比較をする副詞と一般の副詞においてのみTIMEコーパスに有意に多く見られた。また、TIMEコーパスにおいては、従属接続詞の中でもthat節に有意な差がみられた。これらの結果からリーダビリティの高い、簡略化されたテキストは、名詞と形容詞を中心に前置詞でつながり、直接的な描写が多い一方で、簡略化されていないテキストはthat節によってつながり、副詞や助動詞で価値観や感情を描写するような構造になっていると仮定できるだろう。

文法タグ頻度因子分析 (累積寄与率：70%)

　 F1 F2 　 F1 F2

NN 名詞 1.02 -.25 VD do動詞 -.16 .97II 前置詞 .97 -.03 PPI １人称代名詞 -.21 .94AT 冠詞 .95 -.16 XX 否定詞 -.10 .92VV 動詞 .90 .14 UH 間投詞 -.21 .88DA/B 前後置限定詞 .88 -.16 PPY ２人称代名詞 -.20 .86AT1 単数冠詞 .87 -.11 DD 限定詞 .12 .78MC 数詞 .86 -.40 PN 不定代名詞 .02 .74JJ 形容詞 .85 -.05 CS 従属接続詞 .48 .54NP 固有名詞 .82 -.14 PPH ３人称代名詞 .44 .46TO to不定詞 .77 .14 VM 助動詞 .12 .44CC 等位接続詞 .76 .25APPGE 所有代名詞 .75 .12VB be動詞 .61 .47 　 F1 F2RR 副詞 .60 .44 F1 内容語 ---VH have動詞 .55 .39 F2 機能語 .37 ---

因子得点の差の検定

　 Type Mean Sig.

F1 TIME - 0.56 .000　 TFK 0.33 　F2 TIME 0.17 .000　 TFK - 0.10 　



簡略化されていないテキスト(TIMEコーパス)は「機能語」の因子(F2)の特徴を多く持ち、簡略化されたテキスト(TFKコーパス)は「内容語」の因子(F1)の特徴を多く持っており、これまでの結果と一致する。F2の「機能語」の因子は、代名詞や否定詞、限定詞、助動詞、副詞などからなっており、「機能的修飾語(functional modifier)」と呼べるような性質を持っていると言えよう。

5. 考察

以上の結果から、単語の複雑さと文の構造の複雑さをもとにリーダビリティを図る方法は、TIMEコーパスと比較したTFKコーパスの読みやすさを予測してはいるものの、実際に大きく影響しているのは、単語面よりも、文構造の方であることが分かった。これは単純な語の長さや文の長さといった面だけでなく、抽象度の高さといった面においても見受けられ、受動文において両コーパスで差が見られたのに対し、抽象語や人称語において差が見られなかったことからも示唆される。

このことは概念レベルでの単純化を行ってしまうと、同じことを言い表すのにまわりくどく、冗長な表現を使わざるを得ないのに対し、多少、難しい語彙を使っていても、構造さえシンプルならわかりやすいことを示しているだろう。逆に、簡単な語彙でも構造が把握できないと、結局、意味がつかめないことになる。よく言われる、訳せるけど意味が分からないと言うのも、同じところに端を発しているのではないだろうか。最初にあげた簡略化の３つの方法の内、最後の「感情の表出」であげたジャーゴンなどの使用も、ある特定の語彙を知ってさえいれば、逆に読みやすくなる可能性を示唆している。また、文法タグの分析により、機能語がTIMEコーパスで多く確認されたことからも、簡略化されていないテキストではより文構造が複雑であることが示唆される。

今回の分析により、教科書を簡略化するにあたり語彙を制限していく方法は、ともすると読みの理解を妨げる可能性があることが確認された。それよりは、単語面での簡略化はそれほど行わず、辞書を適切に使うことにより、自立的な読みを促進するようなテキストの方が望ましいとも言える。しかしながら、この結果はTIMEコーパスとTFKコーパスの比較によるものであり、実際の教科書のテキストを分析したものではなく、今後、同様のコーパスに基づいたより詳細な分析により、３者間の比較をすることが望まれる。それによって、語彙や構造の簡略化によってリーダビリティをあげることにより、”authenticity”が失われ、読みやすさを損ねているとすれば、それはどういった要因によるものであるのかをみていく必要があるだろう。

これまでに教科書のリーダビリティを研究したものとしては、塩沢・相沢(1989)、塩沢・駒場(1990)、松尾(1998)などがあるが、いずれもリーダビリティ得点に基づいた教科書間や入試との比較分析である。それらのリーダビリティ得点が実際には何を意味しているのか、どのような側面での読みやすさをあらわしているのかを理解するためにも、上記のコーパスに基づいた詳細な分析は有効であると思われる。

また、Yano, et al. (1994)は、テキストの読みやすさを修正(modification)するための方法として、簡略化(simplification)だけでなく、精緻化(elaboration)の有効性を示唆しているが、簡略化することにより、分かりづらくなったり、抜け落ちてしまうものがあることも考えられ、今後、どのような簡略化、または精緻化がリーダビリティを高めていくのかを、双方の視点から分析していく必要があるといえよう。

参考文献

Biber, D. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Biber, D. (1995). Dimensions of register variation: a cross-linguistic comparison. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Biber, D., Conrad, S. and Reppen, R. (1998). Corpus linguistics: investigating language structure anduse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.



Chall, J.S. & Dale, E. (1995). Readability revisited: The new Dale-Chall readability formula. Cambridge,MA: Brookline Books.

Dale, E. & Chall, J. S. (1948). A formula for predicting readability. Educational Research Bulletin 27. pp.11-20, 37-54.

Davies, A. (1984). Simple, simplified and simplification: what is authentic?. In J. C. Alderson and A. H.Urquhart (ed.). Reading in a foreign language. London: Longman, pp.181-195.

Flesch, R. F. (1948). A new readability yardstick. Journal of Applied Psychology 32. pp.221-233.

Fry, E. (1968). A readability formula that saves time. Journal of Reading (11). pp.513-516, 575-578.

Garside, R., Leech, R. & McEnery, T. (eds.) (1997). Corpus Annotation. Longman: London.

Johnson, K. and Johnson, H. (ed.) (1998). Encyclopedic dictionary of applied linguistics: a hand book forlanguage teaching. Oxford: Blackwell.

Kimura, S. & Visgastis, B. High school English textbooks and college entrance examinations: a compari-son of reading passage difficulty. JALT Journal 18(1). pp. 81-95.

Klare, G. B. (1978). Assessing readability. In L. J. Chapman and P. Czerniewska (ed.). Reading fromprocess to practice. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul in association with the Open University Press,pp.248-274.

McLaughlin, G. (1969). SMOG grading: A new readability formula. Journal of Reading 12(8). pp.639-646.

Tribble, C. (1999). Writing difficult texts. PhD thesis submitted at Lancaster University

Yano, Y., Long, M., H., & Ross, S. (1994). The effects of simplified and elaborated texts on foreignlanguage reading comprehension. Language Learning, 44(2). pp.189-219.

清川英男(1992).「リーダビリティと読書教材」『英語教育』12月号. pp.29-31.

清川英男(2000).「リーダビリティ」『英語リーディング辞典』(高梨康雄・卯城祐司編) 研究社. pp.29-40.

斉藤俊雄・中村純作・赤野一郎(編) (1998).『英語コーパス言語学－基礎と実践』研究社

塩沢利雄・相沢一美(1989).「中学校英語のリーダビリティ」『現代英語教育』6月号. pp.42-44.

塩沢利雄・駒場利男(1990).「英語IIBの教科書について－リーダビリティを中心に」『現代英語教育』2月号. pp. 13-15.

鷹家秀史・須賀廣(1998).『実践コーパス言語学－英語教師のインターネット活用法』桐原ユニ.

松尾秀樹(1998).「高校教科書と大学入試問題－リーダビリティから見た比較－」『英語教育研究』41.



Introduction

Expectation and imagination are two powerful aspects of both using alanguage and learning one. This paper presents three university teachers’attempts to improve students’ knowledge and use of English, either bydeveloping a better understanding of certain patterns that guide Englishreader and writer expectations of expository prose, or by encouragingcreativity in language learning through literature and poetry. AndyBarfield presents research that shows the importance of raising learnerawareness of collocations and David Dycus looks at preferred rhetoricalpatterns in Japanese and English and their teaching implications. JaneNoritz-Nakagawa follows with a discussion of ways of using literature inthe EFL classroom.

From Familiar to Unexpected: Learner Perceptions ofCollecting CollocationsAndy Barfield

‘Sometimes the combination is unexpected, I sometimes feel ìWhy wouldthis word go with that one!?î Also, when I bump into a phrase I don’t

know, it’s a surprise.’

Part of the pleasure in collectingcollocations rests in the joy of the

unexpected, as the above commentfrom a first-year medical student

indicates. Indeed, seeing theunexpected in the familiar is one

of the key steps in becoming“collocationally competent”(Hill, 2000, p.62). This shiftfrom the familiar to theunexpected, as well as fromunknown single words topartially knowncombinations, is the

necessary basis for acollocational approach to

vocabulary learning at theintermediate level.

Of course, both our own ritual-ized routines as teachers and our

learners’ pressing desire to increase“words” point us in an opposite direc-

tion. A short extract from a webpagereporting recent medical research may, how-

ever, give us pause for thought. Hamlet-like, the textreports on progress made into sleep disorders. It starts:

Scientists have discovered a genetic disorder whichthey say is responsible for people who find it

Andrew BarfieldUniversity of Tsukuba

David DycusAichi Shukutoku University

Jane Joritz-Nakagawa

The University of Library andInformation Science,

Tsukuba City

Expectationand

Imaginationin FL

Literacy


impossible to stay up late or sleep in. The findings could lead to new treatments for...(BBC News Online, 1999)

If we looked through the rest of the text, we would see that words such as “scientist,” “disorder,”and “could” come up with intriguing frequency. Some of these are shown in Table 1. These words arenot particularly difficult or unknown at the intermediate level and yet the collocations andrelexicalisations (McCarthy, 1988a, p.185) they enter into are full of “surprising bumps” for intermediatelearners of English.

Table 1: Example collocations in a “Medicine in Society” text

1. Lexical chain of repetitions & relexicalisations for ‘scientist’Scientists – researchers from the University of Utah – the scientists, led by Dr Louis Ptacek – DrPtacek said – Scientists hope that - Dr Ptacek – Experts in circadian rhythms – David Earnest ofTexas A&M University – help researchers discover - …

2. Collocations for ‘disorder’Scientists have discovered a genetic disorder which they say is responsible for people who…may be suffering from a disorder called “familial advanced sleep-phase syndrome”29 people in three families who suffered from the disordera grandmother, daughter and grandchild all had the disordermost people with the disorder do not see their doctor about ithelp researchers to discover their role in jet lag, seasonal affective disorder and other mental healthproblems

3. Collocations for ‘could’The findings could lead to new treatments for jet lagThis could lead them to the protein …which, in turn, could be used to formulate new drugs to treat jet lag and other conditionsfinding the key to different patterns of circadian rhythm could help researchers to discover their rolein jet lag

From the table we can see that VERB + NOUN collocations (DISCOVER / SUFFER FROM /HAVE + DISORDER) cover half of the instances of the collocations for disorder. It is also clear that inthis single text there are several occurrences of could used for expressing medical certainty /uncertaintyabout advances in research. Finally, if we looked at instances of DNA, we would find that this morespecialized term crops up in four very similar-looking NP + NP combinations; in each case the other nounis remarkably unremarkable for its everydayness: (1) identified a segment of DNA, (2) appeared in thesame stretch of DNA, (3) a chunk of the DNA is missing, and (4) the defect is an extra piece of DNA (cf.Woolard, 2000, p.32).

‘One thing that is different is that I didn’t look for unexpected combinations when I was reading. When Ifaced a word whose meaning I don’t know, I just concentrated on that word, and I didn’t pay attention to

the words around it.’

It is strangely easy to miss noticing the collocations that common everyday words are used in(Woolard, 2000, p.31). Thus, in a classroom approach to collecting and recording collocations, there isthe need to step back and look with fresh eyes at what we already know is critical (M. Lewis, 2000a).The approach that I have adopted with a first-year reading course for medical students thus requires themto select their own “Medicine in Society” texts (i.e., texts which deal with social aspects of the application

Dycus et.al.: Expectation and Imagination in Foreign Language Literacy


of medicine) and work through the stages outlined in Table 2.

Table 2: Guideline stages in autonomous collection of collocations

o Students first read their “Medicine in Society” text for main ideas and key points.

o Students mindmap and make notes on key points.

o Students revisit the same text later to notice combinations of familiar words that are unexpected or surprising and useful to record (= partially re-learn).

o Students record these collocations in the natural form that they find them.

o Students use some of these collocations in writing their opinion or idea about the medical issue.

o Students use these written notes for discussing the theme in English (and as part of a end-of-term poster presentation).

To help students narrow their search, I ask them to focus in particular on unexpected VERB (+ADJECTIVE) + NOUN combinations and (ADJECTIVE) + NOUN + (+ ADJECTIVE) + NOUNcombinations. The key here is to help the learners notice and collect collocations in a series of successivestages. They need to re-visit the familiar and re-discover the unexpected because collocational knowledgeis at best partial. Through recycling, that partial knowledge may expand or make deeper connectionswithin their L2 mental lexicons.

“I previously tried to learn words individually and phrases which is placed one by one in ‘word book’.However they are cut away from ‘living’ sentense and culture and it’s different from learning phrases in

articles.”

In surveying my students about how they find this focus for learning vocabulary, I have been struckby their perceptive comments. Some of their responses are shown in Table 3. Students become aware thatlearning by collocation is simply a more efficient and meaningful way of learning vocabulary (Comments1~3). They also begin to see that learning by collocation can lead to faster processing and greaterautomaticity (Comment 4). As they do this, they gradually give up their grammar addiction (Comment 5)because collocations carry pre-fabricated grammar within them (M. Lewis, 2000b, p.165). One otheradvantage of learning vocabulary by collocation is that collocations seem in some way connected toepisodic memory. As Comment 6 shows, collocations can thus trigger whole speech events / sets ofcontent schemata (Morgan Lewis, 2000, p.25). Lastly, collocations help students focus on meaning, andmake the foreign language naturally familiar (Comments 7 & 8). However, learning by collocation is notcompletely problem-free (cf. Morgan Lewis, 2000, p.19).

Table 3: Student perceptions of collocations

1. “You can lessen the amount of words to memorize.”2. “I can learn how to use those words.”3. “I found many verb + noun combinations which are unexpected for me.”4. “I think knowing many phrases is much more important than knowing many

words. It helps me to read and understand sentences faster by not readingsentences word by word but my some phrases by phrases. It may also help meto speak more naturally when I get good vocabulary.”



5. “I can learn English by phrases not by each words. So I need less efforts tothink about grammer.”

6. “Doing that help me to remember some detail of articles or stories.”7. “When we communicate with someone in English, you don’t say the words

separately. This is because separated words do not tell other people what youwant to mean. You have to connect the words – that means ‘phrases’ and‘combinations’ .”

8. “In talking or reading about something, the knowledge of such ‘phrases’ or‘combinations’ makes or sounds more natural.”

Two potential problems in collecting collocations are: (1) Students (like teachers) often removecollocations from their living co-text, and (2) Students (like teachers) often reduce the collocationscollected to their minimal headword form (M. Lewis, 2000b, p.180). An example of the first problem isthe recording of the following collocation: congestive heart failure. When I saw this in one of mystudents’ notebooks, I asked her to show me the original text. Together we looked through to find thecollocation. It read: help congestive heart failure patients survive until. Here, the isolation of the nounphrase does little to help the student to remember its wider collocates of “help” and “survive.” We canalso notice that the verbs have been dropped in the original notebook entry. This is reminiscent of theproblems that intermediate-level students face in writing “natural” English. They may well know plentyof nouns and basic noun phrases; they have much greater difficulty in putting those together withappropriate verbs. Thus, it is essential to train students in collecting collocations in the natural completeform that they find them.

The second problem is related to the first: It involves reduction of collocational verb phrases. Thesame student had recorded the following verb-based collocation: take hold. As before, we looked throughto find the text for the original collocation. It read: The cells will take hold and grow. Again, thereduction of the verb phrase did little to help the student to see “take hold” as part of cell growth andrecovery. The link, in other words, to the wider medical process had been cut out. Similarly, a differentstudent recorded: To take control. In this case, I could see how the delexical verb take was beingrecognised, but I had no idea of what medical issue was in question. The to + verb + noun looks like“busy work,” but is not effective collecting. Once the student re-found the collocation, he recorded: takecontrol of their monthly cycle, a key concept in an article discussing the risks and benefits of womentaking the pill.

To sum up, a collocational approach to vocabulary learning can well be perceived in a positive lightby intermediate learners. Yet, such an approach means moving beyond individual words for both learnersand teachers. This is not necessarily easy because learners as much as teachers want to measurevocabulary gains in clear, quantifiable terms by often concentrating on more and more specialistindividual items. This is our pedagogic ritual, our students’ learning routine. However, if learners returnto familiar texts and search for useful combinations of words, they quickly begin to notice manyunexpected collocations in what they already half-know.

Some Hints from Contrastive Rhetoric Research for EFL WritingInstruction in JapanDavid Dycus

Although there has been a great amount of research done in contrastive rhetoric (CR) in the last thirtyyears, there have been few easy-to-implement, practical teaching applications developed from it. Still,there is something appealing about the precept of CR that useful insights can be had by comparing theway writers of different cultures approach the task of writing texts seen as having the same function (i.e.,an expository essay). This presentation will consider some of the findings of CR studies involving



Japanese writers and the practical teaching applications based on them, and some related applicationsfrom text analysis.

Preferred Rhetorical Patterns in Japanese

Japanese contains many patterns that contrast with those of English. One is called ki-sho-ten-ketsu(Hinds, 1982; Maynard, 1998). It involves, an introduction (ki), a development of the topic of theintroduction (sho), a surprise turn or turns (ten), followed by a conclusion (ketsu). The ten section(s)move the discussion to what English readers consider peripheral topics, violating their expectations forexpository text.

Hinds also discusses and inductive strategy in which the writer supplies facts, examples, andsupport throughout the beginning and middle sections but delays presenting the controlling idea until thelast paragraph(s). This approach is labeled “Fish fried in batter” by one Japanese scholar because readingit is like eating tempura: to get to the “fish” (the controlling idea), one must get through the layers andlayers of “flour” (the discussion) surrounding it (Hinds, 1982).

There is also a five-part organization found in expository and persuasive discourse, okori-uke-hari-soe-musubi, translated as “beginning-leading-main point-supplement-conclusion.” (Maynard, 1998).Again, the pattern differs from what one expects in English expository writing because the presentation ofthe main point is delayed, and there are initial sections which, to English readers, cause the discourse to“meander” around the topic instead of addressing it “directly.”

Most research in CR assumes that writers are consciously or unconsciously influenced by thepreferred patterns of their L1 when writing in a L2. The studies below support that view, and also provideinsights into how English writing instruction in Japan can be improved by taking rhetorical differencesinto account.

CR Research with Japanese Subjects

One study which has produced suggestions for classroom practice involves the argumentative essaywriting of American and Japanese college students by Kobayashi (1984). It showed that the Americansubjects clearly preferred a general-to-specific (G-S) pattern while the Japanese preferred specific-to-general (S-G). Based on this finding, Kobayashi suggests that Japanese students be encouraged to usetheir preferred S-G pattern to explore their ideas in their first drafts, using the (G-S) pattern in subsequentdrafts as a framework to rearrange their initial for presentation, as it is the strongly preferred pattern ofAmerican readers. The concluding statement of the S-G draft, which reveals the main idea, can be used asthe opening statement or introduction of the G-S version. Kobayashi stresses that students need tounderstand that being aware of one’s audience, and thus arranging text according to their expectations,underlies this restructuring of the text.

Another study comparing argumentative essays of American college students and two groups ofJapanese college students, one writing in Japanese and the other in English, was conducted by Oi (1984).Differences were revealed in terms of the use of cohesive devices, overall organization, and in culturalrhetorical tendencies. Analysis showed that the Americans used fewer conjunctions than the Japanesewriting in either language, and that the Japanese tended to use the same words repeatedly regardless oflanguage, while the Americans used more synonyms. Regarding organization, the Japanese writing intheir L1 displayed a tendency to use the S-G pattern while their American counterparts clearly preferredthe G-S pattern.

Oi also focused on the organization of ideas within the argument. Almost all of the Americansubjects maintained their initial stance without introducing opposing points. However, even when theJapanese subjects were using the G-S pattern, the internal argumentation structure tended to alternatebetween supporting and opposing points. She concludes such frequent alternations contribute to thedifficulty English readers often have in following arguments in Japanese

For teaching, Oi recommends having Japanese EFL students study the underlying logic of theparagraphs they write by analyzing the inner argument structure of what they write so that they canrecognize the best ways to modify their writing and to avoid mixed argumentation. She also recommends



advising them to adhere to the G-S pattern.In a later study, Oi and Kamimura (1997) found that explicit rhetorical instruction on inner-

argumentation markedly improved two test groups of Japanese students’ writing after a single session.Four types of organization were investigated: general-to-specific (GS), specific-to-general (SG), middlegeneral statement (MG), and omission of general statement (OM). Of the pre-test essays for both groups,less than half displayed the GS pattern, and nearly 40% were OM. In post-test essays, however, roughly93% of the students in the first group and 80% in the second adopted the GS pattern after instruction inpreferred rhetorical patterns in English.

Instruction in inner argumentation pattern also resulted in positive gains. Over 80% of the pre-testwriters used mixed argumentation patterns. After instruction, virtually the same number wrote with few orno argumentative alternations. Finally, post-test passages showed great improvement in writing in a waywhere the initial and concluding statements agree, increasing from roughly 60% for both groups to wellover 90%.

Text Analysis

Related to the generic structure of arguments, some useful ideas can also be applied from studies in textanalysis. Hatim (1997, p. 39-40) notes that editorials in the Independent follow two basic patterns,through-argument and counter-argument. Through argumen thas three basic parts: a thesis to besupported, the substantiation of the thesis, followed by the conclusion. The four-part counter-argumentpattern begins with a thesis cited to be opposed, followed by opposition (making a counter claim) andthen substantiation of counter claim, followed by a conclusion. Both are simple yet more instructive thanthe traditional trio of “introduction, discussion, and conclusion”. Similarly, McCarthy (1991) has shownhow certain generic English text patterns can be taught in the EFL classroom.

Conclusion

If there is a key term underlying the differences in the way people go about writing and reading texts, it isexpectation. When expectations are not met, communication breaks down. This is in a very real sensewhat happens when rhetoric crosses cultures. Teachers and students alike can only benefit from thegrowing body of knowledge we have about the rhetorical preferences of the Japanese and speakers ofEnglish and other languages.

Uses of Literature in University EFLJane Joritz-Nakagawa

Literature is meaningful, memorable, moving and involving. In my own experience, I have founduniversity EFL students to enjoy unraveling the “puzzles” that literature presents us with. In suchactivities, students are focusing on the meanings contained in meaningful discourse. In my portion of thepresentation, I focused on some uses of pictures, songs, poems, short fiction and creative nonfiction inuniversity EFL teaching. I demonstrated classroom activities that fell into several types described below.All activities require students to read and/or write, as well as share and discuss their thoughts with peersabout published works and their own creations.

Pictures

An exercise in Shoemaker (1985, pp. 44-45) was demonstrated that requires students to study aphotograph of an old woman and create similes by completing sentences such as “The wisdom she hasgained through her many years is as precious as .” When having students complete thisexercise, I ask them to avoid creating an expected image or metaphor (such as by writing “a diamond” inthe blank), but rather to try to create something unexpected (such as, “a parking space in Tokyo”).



Another activity involves photographs of two paintings by Edward Hopper (available in Graw,1995) that are used as prompts for storytelling. Students choose one of the two paintings to discuss withtheir group. They tell their group what they think is going on in the picture as a pre-writing activity and,afterwards, write an original story based on the painting.

Songs

A cloze activity using the rock song “Because Today” (McCarron, 1999) was presented that requiresstudents to complete the cloze to create interesting lyrics, and later compare their creations with the workof other students and the original. The poem “Harlem” (available in Rampersad, 1994, p. 426) can beused in the same way. For lower level students, before completing the clozes, student attention might bedrawn to what sort of insertions are grammatically possible. For example, in the line “Does it _____ likea ____?” we would expect a verb of some kind in the first blank, and a countable noun in the second.

A songwriting activity was also described that has the following steps:

a) Ask students to brainstorm, in groups, what they think are the 10 most commonwords (e.g. yume) or phrases (e.g. tori no yoni) in Japanese pop songs. Askthem to jot down both the Japanese word/phrase, in Roman letters, and theirEnglish translation of it.

b) After students have generated lists, randomly choose students to write their ideason the blackboard, enough so that you will have roughly 10 to 14 items on theboard. Instruct students not to write the same word or expression as anotherstudent.

c) Once the words/expressions are on the board, erase the Japanese equivalents sothat only the English words/phrases remain.

d) Now, ask students to write a pop song in pairs by passing a paper back and forth,where one student writes a line and the other person writes the next line,alternating in this way until the song reaches 8 to 12 lines of lyrics. Studentsare instructed to use as many of the words on the blackboard (all, if possible) asthey can.

Poems and Short Fiction

The writing “Miyako Wants Another Husband” (Ottesen, 1993, p. 90), in detailing what the speakerwishes her husband to do, contains repetitive use of the phrase “I want” (e.g., “I want my husband tochange useless electric bulbs for new ones and drive nails on the wall for paintings. I want my husband toplan the menus, cook and do the dishes on weekends and not be volatile, periodically. I want...”). In thisactivity, after students read the selection, I ask them to write as quickly as possible for about 10 minutes(or more). They are told to keep their pen moving and not go back and correct, and when they are stuckthey are to merely repeat the phrase “I want” to keep going.

Finally, I presented good sources for poems and stories to use in the EFL classroom, includingworks found in Clifton (1999), Shapard and Thomas (1989), and Addonizio and Laux (1997), as well asseveral works of creative nonfiction (including Anton, 1993; Boesch, 1994; Chernoff, 1999) which servedas model works in a writing course. After students study these models, they write their own originalcreative nonfiction works.



References

Anton, K. (1993). Crossing cultures. Tokyo: The Japan Times Press.

BBC News Online (31 August, 1999). Sleep research could combat jet lag. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_343000/434238.stm

Boesch, E. E. (1994). First experiences in Thailand. In Lonner, W,. J. and Malpass, R. (Eds) Psychologyand culture. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Carter, R. & McCarthy, M. (Eds.) (1988). Vocabulary and language teaching. London: Longman.

Chernoff, M. (1999). Michael Jordan’s lips. In ACM 35. Chicago: Left Field Press.

Hatim, B. (1997). Communication across cultures: Translation theory and contrastive text linguistics.Devon, UK: University of Exeter Press.

Hill, J. (2000). Revising priorities: From grammatical failure to collocational success. In Lewis, M.(Ed.) (2000), Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach (pp. 28-46).

Hinds, J. (1982). Linguistics and written discourse in English and Japanese: a contrastive study (1978-1972). Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 1982. pp. 78-84.

Hopper, E. [1947]. Summer evening [painting]. In Graw, J. (Ed.), (1995), Edward Hopper and theAmerican imagination. New York: Norton.

Hopper E. [1949]. Conference at night [painting]. In Graw, J. (Ed.), (1995), Edward Hopper and theAmerican imagination. New York: Norton

Kobayashi, H. (1984). Rhetorical patterns in English and Japanese. Unpublished dissertation. TeachersCollege, Columbia University, New York.

Lewis, M. (Ed.) (2000a). Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach. Hove,UK: Language Teaching Publications.

Lewis, M. (2000b). Learning in the lexical approach. In Lewis, M. (Ed.) (2000), Teaching colloca-tion: Further developments in the lexical approach (pp. 155-184).

Lewis, Morgan (2000). There is nothing as practical as a good theory. In Lewis, M. (Ed.) (2000),Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach (pp. 10-27).

Maynard, S. (1998). Principles of Japanese discourses: a handbook. Cambridge: CUP

McCarron. A. (1999). Because today. On Surreal [CD]. Beverly Hills: Maverick Records.

McCarthy, M. (1988b). Some vocabulary patterns in conversation. In Carter, R. & M. McCarthy (Eds.),Vocabulary and language teaching (pp. 181-200), London: Longman.

McCarthy, M. (1991). Discourse analysis for language teachers. Cambridge: CUP.

Oi, K. (1984). Cross-cultural differences in rhetorical patterning: a study of Japanese and English. Unpub-lished dissertation. The Program in Linguistics, State University of New York at Stony Brook

Oi, K. & Kamimura, T. (1997). A pedagogical application of research in contrastive rhetoric. JACETJournal, 28, pp. 65-84.

Ottesen, C. C. (1993). LA Stories. Yarmouth: Intercultural Press.

Rampersad, A. (Ed). (1994). The collected poems of Langston Hughes. NewYork: Vintage

Shapard, R. and Thomas, J. (Eds). (1989). Sudden fiction international. NewYork: Norton.

Shoemaker, S. (1985). Write in the corner where you are. Fort Worth: Holt Rinehart and Winston.

Woolard, G. (2000). Collocation - encouraging learner independence. In Lewis, M. (Ed.) Teachingcollocation: Further developments in the lexical approach (pp. 28-46).



In Japan the training of interpreters has long been carried out solely byvocational schools. However, as the interest toward incorporatingcommunicative approach to foreign language teaching has increased, thenumber of universities that have started to incorporate interpretationtraining as part of their language training has steadily increased. Sincethe field of interpreting training is rather new compared to the traditionalEFL instruction, there is considerable amount of confusion andmisunderstandings among educators in terms of methodologies,evaluations, adequate class sizes and even to qualification of instructors.In this paper, we report on cases of using interpretation training in twoJapanese universities. After six months study we found that studentsresponded in favor of our method as they had plenty of opportunities touse English in class and could acquire various skills in a new way.

日本では長年、職業訓練学校が通訳者養成を独占してきた。しかし、外国語教育でコミュニカティブ・アプローチが注目されるようになったこともあり、通訳訓練方法を外国語教育の一環にとりいれる大学の数が徐々に増加しつつある。もっとも教育現場では何をどう教え評価すべきか、クラスサイズや教師資格をどうするのか等、かなりの混乱や誤解が散見される。この小論で、筆者両名は日本の二つの大学における、通訳訓練をとりいれた具体的な例を報告する。半年間の授業を経たあとの学生の反応は, 授業で英語を多く使う事が出来た事に加えて、今までとは違う方法で様々

なスキルを学ぶ事ができた点で好意的であった。

Introduction

In order to become a professionalinterpreter, one must at least have a

near native speaker level fluency inspeaking, listening, reading and

writing in two languages. Inaddition to this, one mustposses a diverse backgroundknowledge of the field thatthey are assigned to interpret.In Japan, the training ofinterpreters have mainlybeen carried out by

vocational schools thatspecialize in teaching

interpreting techniques.However, as the Ministry of

Education has started urgingeducators in the field of EFL to

make their English teaching morecommunicatively oriented, the number

of universities that have started incorpo-rating interpretation training as part of their

language teaching has increased remarkably. Atpresent, there are more than 30 universities and junior

colleges in Japan that teach interpretation, and even several senior highschools and prep schools have started utilizing some aspects of interpre-tation in English instruction to students.

As the number of instructors who teach interpretation increases the

Miyuki TanakaFerris University

Chikako TsurutaMejiro University College

TeachingLanguage through

InterpretationTraining


confusion and misunderstandings among them have increased, because at present, guidelines do not existregarding what interpretation training actually implies.

In this paper, we demonstrate how we seek breakthroughs to some of the issues concerning teachinginterpreting at universities in Japan. First, we will point out what these issues are. Then, we will reporthow we conduct our interpreting lessons at two universities in order to demonstrate how we are dealingwith some of the issues. Next, we explain results of questionnaires given to students who took part in ourlessons to show how students reacted. Finally, based on some of the findings, we discuss severalpedagogical issues at university level in Japan and what we can do to further promote instruction ofinterpretation.

Issues concerning interpretation courses at universities in Japan

There are several issues concerning teaching interpretation at universities in Japan that need to beaddressed. First, how to teach students and to evaluate them is not always apparent. Second, the languageability of students is not always sufficiently high to start full-fledged interpreter education and training.Third, the class size is often too large to provide individual feedback. And finally, the actual qualificationand expertise of instructors is debatable.

How to teach and evaluateUnlike other traditional language teaching methods, the introduction of various interpreting trainingmethods in classrooms is fairly new. Although there is a vague consensus among instructors as to whatinterpreting training implies, there is still not yet a clear understanding of how it should be taught andevaluated.

The study of interpreting has long been regarded as non-academic in Japan. According to Kondo(1997), there were some professors who stated clearly that interpreting could not be consideredworthwhile enough to be taught at university level. The situation has improved in recent years, and theacademic study of interpreting has gradually taken speed. However, in spite of this, the research in thefield can hardly be considered adequate in Japan, and few theoretical accounts on the mechanism andprocess of interpretation are found in writings (Mizuno, 1999).

Because of this lack of basic academic studies in interpreting, many of the instructors who teach atuniversities often follow the methodologies learned at vocational interpreting schools and turn to somepublications written by practicing interpreters on the profession. However, mere carrying over of methodsfrom vocational schools to interpretation courses at college would create confusion among universitylearners as the former are aimed to foster professional interpreters, while the latter focus more onproviding language training.

The evaluation of students’ performance in interpreting is another topic that needs to be addressedhere. Naturally, the evaluation in a classroom situation is usually carried out very differently from theevaluation of professional interpreting in real life working situations (Pinkerton & Grainger, 1999). Butthere has been little discussion of how and what aspects should be evaluated.

Thus, there is an urgent need in establishing an original framework for teaching interpreting andevaluating students’ performance at universities in Japan. There should at least be a guideline to whichinstructors can refer to when seeking how to teach and/or to give feedback to students.

Students language proficiency levelThe second issue that needs to be addressed when teaching interpreting at universities is students’language ability. Ideally, students enrolling in interpreter training courses should already have adequateand sufficient linguistic ability (Torikai, 1999), a 600+ TOEFL score or equivalence. In another words, ifyou want to become an interpreter, language is taken for granted. However, in many cases, it is notrealistic to seek such high standards for all college students enrolled in interpretation classes. Instructorsare challenged to seek methodologies to teach interpreting to students with limited language ability.

Tanaka et.al.: Teaching Language Through Interpretation Training


Class sizeThe third issue that needs to be addressed is the class size. At vocational schools, the number of studentsin one class is usually limited to no more than twenty. As intense instruction and on-site evaluation ofstudents interpreting performance are essential in training professional interpreters, the number ofstudents handled by one instructor is strictly limited.

Whereas at university, as the number of students who wish to enroll in such classes increases, sodoes the number of students in one class. There are some universities that restrict the number to 30 orless, but some admit over 80 students. The cut-off measures to select students go against the policy ofequal educational opportunity, so in many cases the class size can’t be limited. With so many students,instructors have no choice but to cut back some aspects of the training as it would be too overwhelming tocarry out intensive individual care for everyone.

Qualification of instructorsFinally, there is an issue of who should be teaching such interpretation courses and why. At present, manyof the instructors in charge are either present/former professional interpreters or ESL/EFL teachers.Ideally the instructors should have some background in both interpreting and language teaching, but atpresent the number of such instructors are limited.

According to Miura (1997), in order to teach interpreting, one must have experience in interpreting.The training of interpreting is difficult no matter how good one is at languages, as mastering of anotherlanguage is rather different from interpreting training. If the instructor does not have the experience ininterpreting, he/she may have to rely on publications on teaching. Several textbooks written byinterpreters have been published recently, but in order to the make most of them, adequate and supportiveinstructions by someone who has gone through interpretation training is indispensable. In addition to this,at present some of the textbooks on instructions in interpretation are poorly written by non-interpreterswith little understanding of the field, which only creates unnecessary misunderstanding and confusionamong learners. There is a strong need among instructors to develop reliable textbooks that they can makeuse of.

To summarize, some of the main issues concerning teaching interpretation at universities in Japanare, how to teach and to evaluate, the language ability of students, the class size and the qualification ofinstructors. Each of these issues needs to be addressed seriously by instructors and universities that areteaching interpreting.

Interpreting courses at university

In order to demonstrate how some of the instructors are working on various issues stated above, we willintroduce two interpreting courses carried out at universities in Japan. The first example is at FerrisUniversity in Yokohama and the second one is Mejiro University College in Tokyo.

Ferris UniversityThere are two interpreting classes at Ferris University. One is for 2nd to 3rd year students and the other for3rd to 4th year students. The two instructors in charge are both professional interpreters and qualified EFLteachers. There are about 30 students enrolled in each of the classes majoring in English literature orInternational Studies. In order to enroll in these classes, students are requested to have reached theEnglish proficiency level of 500 in TOEFL scores. However, in most cases only half of them haveactually attained this score. The class hours are 90 minutes a week and there are 13 weeks for a semester.

The objectives of the courses are 1) to develop students’ overall practical communication skills inEnglish through interpreting training, 2) to provide students basic knowledge of interpretation skills, and3) to inform students about the world of interpreters.

Students usually start out by gathering background information of the topics they are assigned tostudy. The range of topics covered in class are wide, from familiar topics such as Japanese pop culture toeconomics, politics, sports, social issues, to name just a few. A variety of authentic materials, such asABC, CNN news, videos, films, music tapes and articles obtained from the Internet, newspapers



(Japanese, English), Newsweek, and Time magazines, textbooks and reference books are used in class.When students have familiarized themselves with the topic through reading the articles, checking

the unknown vocabularies and discussing with peers, they start working on shadowing practice.Shadowing means to repeat incoming information exactly as it is heard in the same language, withoutparaphrasing and at times imitating the tone of the original (Freimanis 1994). Then they work on variousother interpreting techniques, such as, retention and/or reproduction, summarizing and/or paraphrasing,sight-translation, consecutive interpretation and simultaneous interpretation. The focus of these languagetraining exercises is to make students concentrate on the meaning of the sentence instead on syntax orstructures.

Besides these language activities, students are provided with basic information about the world ofinterpreters, as there are quite a few who seriously seek interpretation as their future profession.

Mejiro University CollegeAt Mejiro University College, an introductory course to interpreting is one of the electives for the secondyear English and Literature majors. There are no prerequisites or any kind of cut-off measures in place toselect the students wanting to take the course, but the size of the class needs to be limited to a maximumof 56 due to the number of LL booths available. Class hour is 80 minutes, with 14 lessons.

The objectives of the courses are; 1) to develop students’ practical communication skills in Englishthrough interpreting training, 2) to provide students basic knowledge of interpretation skills, 3) to informstudents about the world of interpreters, and 4) to give students public speaking skills.

Students cite topics that they wish to study such as movies, fashion, and hot interest topics fromoverseas. The materials from CNN programs, transcripts from films and TV programs are used assupplementary materials. Also drafts from the lectures that the instructor actually has interpreted are used.Students practice summarizing articles from newspaper or magazine articles of their choice. They writedown their comments and prepare list of key words in that article. They also practice interpreting fromEnglish into Japanese and vice versa in class using segments of TV programs.

In addition to this, since it is the instructor’s belief that students should observe actual simultaneousinterpretation by professional interpreters, within the semester an opportunity to observe actual liveinterpretation is provided. Also, the instructor shows her work on videotape as much as possible.

Response from studentsFerris University

In order to find out what students thought about these lessons, a questionnaire was administrated in July2000 to 30 students who took part in the course for one semester. First students were asked what kind ofinterpretation training helped improve their language skills. Students chose more than one answer.Seventy-five percent of them answered sight-translation practice did, 50% answered vocabulary practiceand 20% of students answered consecutive interpreting was helpful.

Next, they were asked if they thought their English proficiency level improved by taking thiscourse. To this, 67% answered that it improved a little and 25% answered that it did not. Eight percent ofthe student answered that they did not know.

When asked what they found most beneficial about the course, their answers varied. Some of themost common answers were that they came to think about the context of the sentence more, became lessembarrassed about speaking in front of others, had a chance to speak and listen to English a lot, and hadnever studied English this way and felt like really taking part in class.

The last question was what they found least beneficial about the course. To this students answeredthat they wanted to know how they could improve their practical language skills more. Some studentsanswered that they felt intimidated by their peers, as their interpreting performances were not so good asothers.

Mejiro University CollegeA questionnaire was given to 20 students who took part in the interpretation class of spring 2000. First



students were asked what aspects of interpretation training helped them improve their language skills. Tothis 90% of students responded that shadowing practice did, 80% said vocabulary practice, 75% sighttranslation and 50% consecutive interpretation.

Through this course, students mentioned that they learned to get the sense of the word from manypossibilities, became more aware towards the meaning of the words, learned the way to grasp themeaning of the sentence from the beginning and realized the importance of background knowledge inperforming interpretation.

Discussion and Implication for Teaching

In this paper, we have demonstrated how we carry out our interpretation training at two universities inJapan to students with limited language ability. The questionnaires administered at the end of the trainingrevealed that students at both universities considered the training useful in improving their languageskills. Many students cited that they think their listening comprehension and speaking ability improved alittle.

When teaching interpreting, instructors should keep in mind that interpretation consists of threecrucial steps; to listen accurately to the source language, second, to be able to comprehend the correctmeaning in the source language, and last to be able to express that meaning in the target language. Inother words, listening, comprehension and expression abilities are crucial components called upon forinterpreters.

From a pedagogical point of view, we thus think that interpretation training can be a very efficientattempt to raise the awareness level of the students to these three crucial aspects of language. Althoughstudents taking interpretation classes do not really have the desirable level of command of the Englishlanguage, through efforts to learn English by taking interpretation courses, they actually can learn a greatdeal.

We acknowledge that teaching of interpreting at universities in Japan is still in its infancy. There aremany issues that need to be addressed as to how to teach and to evaluate, how to cope with students withlow language ability, class size, and the qualification of instructors. In order to create better teaching andlearning environments each of these issues needs to be addressed seriously by instructors andadministrators.

For future development of teaching interpreting at universities in Japan, we believe that instructorsshould promote further understanding of interpreting training in the field of EFL/ESL, develop betterteaching materials, create a network among interpreters-instructors, work towards establishing steadyguidelines, and carry out researches in various issues related to interpretation concerns in Japan.

References

Freimanis, C. (1994). Training bilinguals to interpret in the community. In R. W. Brislin, and T. Yoshida(Eds.), Improving intercultural interactions: Modules for cross-cultural training programs. (pp.313-341). Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Kondo, M. (1997). Nihonniokeru tsuyaku kenkyu (A research of interpretation in Japan), Gengo. 26(9),20-27.

Miura, N. (1997), Tsuyakuriron kara gaikokugo kyoujuhou e (From interpreting theory to foreign lan-guage education), Gengo. 26(9), 48-55

Mizuno, A. (1999). A brief review of interpretation research in Japan. Interpreting Research. 8(2), 106-117.

Torikai, K. (1999). Interpreting training and foreign language teaching in Japan. Interpreting Research.8(2), 118-124

Pinkerton, Y. & Grainger, T. (1999). Consecutive interpreting test - what we should evaluate and how weshould evaluate. Interpreting Research. 8(1), 11-30.



This article, sponsored by JALTs Global Issues in Language EducationSpecial Interest Group presents four different ways in which globalissues have been integrated into the teaching of foreign languages indifferent situations in Japan. First, Don Hinkelman, presents sister schoolexchanges within Asia. He describes a year-long program culminating inthe visit of a group of college students to his University in Hokkaido,Japan. The other three sections are more specifically related to classroommaterials. Olivier Urbain presents a course built upon Victor Hugo’s TheHunchback of Notre Dame, a rich source for presenting issues of humanrights raised in this 18th century novel. Gillian Giles presents how NativeAmerican issues can be used to promote critical thinking. Finally, BrianTeaman provides a motivation and method for integrating global issuesinto the classroom by focusing on speaking. Through reading how theseteachers have integrated global issues into the classroom, we hope thatother teachers will be inspired to use these ideas or adapt and createprograms and lessons of their own.

Designing Sister School EFL Exchanges in AsiaDon Hinkelman

Sister school exchanges in Asia and otherinternational peer-to-peer projects are

effective ways to motivate Englishcommunication and generate production

of a second language. Compared toexchanges with North America and

other native English speakingcountries, these experiencesoffer a number of advantages.

The first advantage isthat Japanese students arecommunicating directly withpeers (not teachers) who areat the same relative level ofEnglish. Typically, study

abroad will involve visitingNorth America, the U.K.,

Australia or other nativeEnglish speaking countries. The

level of English spoken there isidiomatic, has higher levels of

vocabulary, and contains colloquialexpressions. Thus sheltered programs

of intensive ESL can play a crucial role inimproving communicative ability. However,

Asian students, especially those in Korea, have asimilar EFL background as Japanese students. Having

similar EFL levels creates a low stress, low affective filter environment inwhich students can practice expressing themselves in a foreign language.

Another advantage is that most countries in Asia recognize Englishas a common second language useful for business and educational

Don HinkelmanSapporo Gakuin University

Olivier UrbainSoka University

Gillian GilesKomaki EnglishTeaching Center

Brian TeamanHiroshima University

TheGlobal Issues

LanguageClassroom


exchange. It is often not necessary to learn a local language when visiting China, the Philippines,Malaysia, Thailand, and other Asian countries. The bitter history between Japan and Korea means a third,intermediary language (English) is an excellent way to avoid questions of domination by powerfulneighbors.

Finally, sister school exchanges in Asia are far less expensive for travel than to native-speakingcountries. The cost for a short-term program (1 to 4 weeks) can be half or less than that of a similarprogram in the west coast of the USA. In this case study, a program in 2000 where a Japanese universityin Hokkaido took 10 students for one week to Seoul, Korea was easily designed to cost only 55,000 yenper student. However, a program of exchanges within Asia does not automatically guarantee languagelearning success without carefully structuring activities in advance. In this case study, sightseeing wasavoided and English was used as the medium of communication in face-to-face and Internet-baseddiscussion. Over two years, exchange tours, homestays, and collaborative classroom projects involvedseveral hundred students on both campuses.

The success of the program was based on: (a) integrating the traveling program with the classroomcurriculum both before and after the physical exchange, (b) placing responsibility for organizing activitieson the host students themselves, and (c) emphasizing small group/pair discussion rather than grouptouring and sightseeing.

The university curriculum on the Japan-side included three content-based English classes on thetopic of “Intercultural Communication and Korea.” The textbook used in these courses was CultureShock! Korea. These seminars involved a total of 35 students and were taught for eight weeks precedingthe arrival of ten Korean students. In the class, each Japanese student gave a weekly oral report on thetext, interviewed an assigned Korean partner via e-mail and face-to-face during the exchange visit, andwrote a 1000 word English report on a research topic of personal interest concerning Korean culture.

Secondly, on the Japanese side 80% of the activities were organized by 13 members of a StudentWelcoming Committee and 70 volunteers, all drawn from oral English classes where teachers encouragedtheir students to communicate productively in English. The students creatively organized a Korean FoodCooking Festival (involving over 150 students), a sports day with volleyball and games, a demonstrationof Yosakoi Dancing followed by actual lessons with costumes, early morning survival Japanese lessons,an all-campus open discussion, karaoke singing, and various parties. All programs were conducted inEnglish. In addition, these homestays were arranged by community groups. English speeches werepresented by each visiting student, and student research was published on a homepage.

Thirdly, small group and pair discussions between the Japanese students and their visitors forcedstudents to constantly communicate in a second language rather than in their mother tongue. The visitingKoreans were separated and assigned partners during lunch time and in classes so that they would notspend time with their Korean classmates, so that they could not use their first language. The total programallowed over 100 Japanese students to communicate in English in situations of 1 to 10 hours long wherethey could not use their native language.

Evaluations filled out by the visiting Koreans and the Japanese asked students about theappropriateness of the schedule and included ratings on each component of the week-long program. Thecomponents involving face-to-face discussion with student counterparts were rated highest. Visits tomuseums and attending lectures were rated lowest. General impressions were extremely positive. Thisprogram is scheduled to continue on a yearly basis and is anticipated to generate a broader interest inforeign languages than traditional exchange programs.

Promoting Human Rights through Literature

Olivier Urbain

Victor Hugo was a writer and a social activist, and he believed in the poet’s mission to change society forthe better. His novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame contains a strong message for the protection ofHuman Rights, a remarkable fact when we consider that the novel was published in 1831, more than 100years before the appearance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948.

Teaman et.al.: Global Issues in the Language Classroom


In his novel, Victor Hugo shows great mastery at making readers sympathize with his maincharacters, especially Esmeralda the dancer and Quasimodo the bell ringer. This is one of the reasons thisnovel is attractive for students of English and is suitable material in a language classroom. Some concretetips on how the novel is used will be given in this paper.

Victor Hugo in the English Language ClassroomThe course described here was taught in 1999-2000 and was based on the reading of an abridged versionof Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame in English. After reading particularly rousing passages, students areasked to take one small step in the direction of the protection of human rights: they have to interviewpeople and collect stories about discrimination. They then write up reports and essays, participate in-group discussions, and deliver speeches. Hearing each other’s reports, they feel like standing up anddoing something about the racism and lack of appreciation for other cultures still rampant in Japan.

Besides the interest generated by the content, the literary qualities of Hugo’s work are anotherstimulus for language learning. In order to be able to enjoy great literature, one needs, among other skills,good reading habits and a keen eye for metaphors and symbolism. Several students were able to makeprogress along these lines, developing their autonomy and self-motivation as readers, and this in turnhelped them develop critical thinking, one of the main ingredients of global citizenship.

Enjoying literature also involves good reading habits, and after prereading preparation andprediction, the students make the book their own by scanning, skimming, and inferring, and finally writea concise summary that they send to the teacher by email. All four skills are therefore enhanced in thisclass as they read the novel, write summaries, and speak and listen through discussing and deliveringspeeches.

Victor Hugo and the Universal Declaration of Human RightsOf many possible examples, I will talk about two ways in which the connection between the novel and theUDHR can be demonstrated. The first example is about Esmeralda, is the victim of discriminationbecause she is a gypsy and a woman. Article 2 of the UDHR says:

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, withoutdistinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or otheropinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status (emphasis added).

In one of the most moving scenes of the novel, Paquette, a miserable French woman in her mid-thirties, expresses her hatred for gypsies, heaping insults at the dancer Esmeralda. When she was a youngmother, her baby girl was kidnapped, presumably by gypsies. Paquette became mad with grief anddecided to shut herself up in a cell for the rest of her life. What Paquette doesn’t know, is that Esmeralda,the object of her hatred, is none other than her dear daughter Agnes, who was raised by gypsies for 16years and has become a graceful dancer. Hugo’s message is clear: discrimination and racism can make usso blind that they even make us hate our own children. After reading this passage, many students decideto explore the history and culture of the Roma people, as Victor Hugo’s gypsies should be called today.

The second example is about Quasimodo and the fact that he is not entitled to a fair trial after beingarrested for attempting to kidnap Esmeralda. The judge is deaf and cannot understand a single word ofwhat Quasimodo is saying. Article 10 says:

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartialtribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him(emphasis added).

Indeed, the judge starts interrogating Quasimodo without understanding his answers at all. In theend, Quasimodo is condemned to be flogged for two hours at the pillory. Many students want to studycriminal justice after reading this passage. For example, there is no jury in Japan, and, after discoveringthat this is not the case in other countries, they develop an interest in the promotion of article 10.

In conclusion, even though there are so many examples in real life of abuses against human rights,



why choose literature? I would like to present two reasons, attractiveness and universality. First, it issometimes difficult to study real life cases because it intimidates and turns off potential peace workers.Literature provides a safe environment where the reader can develop concerns and interest for humanrights. Second, examples of abuses are often politically loaded and it is difficult to encourage some peopleto stand up for human rights if they feel that this constitutes political interference. However everybodycan agree that the way Quasimodo and Esmeralda are treated in the novel is unfair and that somethingmust be done against this kind of abuse. The literary qualities of Hugo’s works and their rousing messagemake them a wonderful tool in the global issues language classroom.

Critical Thinking through Native American Issues

Gillian Giles

Encouraging students to think more critically and globally is vital for language learning development andpersonal enrichment. It is, therefore, necessary for teachers to create activities that will motivate andinspire students to make connections between themselves and their world. Teachers need to chooseappropriate topics to explore so that they can keep themselves interested and be able to share their ownexcitement with their students. This can be quite a daunting task, but it is necessary if a teacher wants toencourage a student to think about the material, rather than memorize it.

I chose to highlight the Navajo people who live in the southwestern part of the United States. Theyare the largest Native American tribe in the U.S. and have a rich history, religion, and culture. There isalso quite a bit of information about them on the Internet and in books that are readily available here inJapan. I chose the book, The Navajos by Peter Iverson to use as the textbook. The course focused on theNavajo’s history, religion, culture (art, social roles, etc.), as well as their political life. It was important toraise students’ awareness of global issues such as human rights, discrimination, and social responsibility.Of course I also wanted to encourage my students to think critically, which meant creating activities thatrequired them to think of their own answers, rather than finding them in their books. I taught integratedskills, so I tried to focus these activities on as many skills as possible. The following are four activitiesthat I found useful in my classroom to help stimulate students to think more globally and critically.

The Stereotypes Worksheet Activity is useful for seeing what preconceived ideas students may haveas well as to dispel myths about Native Americans. The worksheet consisted of about six statements.Examples of these are

Savages and warriors are acceptable labels used for Native Americans.Sports mascots (Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians) create an inaccurate image of

Native Americans.Anyone who calls a Native American an Indian is a racist.

Students are instructed to write whether they agree or disagree with the statements. After eachstudent fills out their worksheet, they work in small groups and share their ideas. Ideas are then discussedas a whole class. I found it very important to discuss the activity as a whole class because many studentshad questions. For example, many students asked me if it was okay to call a Native American an Indian. Iexplained that the term native American is more appropriate, but that sometimes it is acceptable to useIndian as well. I then discussed the term politically correct and that it is wise to carefully choose thewords you use, especially when referring to a specific group of people. However, I also stressed thattrying to always be politically correct can make communication difficult.

The Brainstorm Activity is an excellent preview and scanning activity and it also tests studentbackground knowledge. The word Navajos is written on the board and students are instructed to writedown any ideas that come to them when they think of this word. After a few minutes, students go throughtheir books and look at the pictures, headings, and bolded and italicized words. Then they add more ideasto their piece of paper. Ideas are then shared as a whole class. Some examples of their ideas were:cowboys and Indians, the Wild West, reservations, pottery, sheep, horses, peaceful, weaving, sad and long



history, jewelry, tears, war, teepee, etc.The Native Peoples Essay Question helps stress that there are indigenous peoples all over the world

who are mistreated by society, even in Japan. Students answer the following question for homework: Doyou have any people who are similar to the Native Americans in your own country? If so, how are theytreated?

Following are some examples of student responses:

It is really difficult for me to write about the Ainu . . . because I have little information,they seem to be so mysterious to me . . . The Ainu are very similar to the NativeAmericans. Both of them have been ill-treated by government that it just came laterand invaded. Their histories are so tragic… In the meantime, the Ainu populationare decreasing rapidly. I’ve now realized that the government doesn’t want to admithow they have treated the Ainu, so they haven’t told the fact in the education field.That was why I had little information.

Ainu people in Hokkaido might be treated as cruelly as the Native Americans. Idon’t know about them very much because I was not taught at school or anywhere.From the word, Ainu, I imagine only wooden bear sculptures or white embroideryon dark colored clothes. Ainu are the people in old stories to me. I can guess ancientAinu people, but I think recent Ainu people are almost the same as me, usual Japanese.

The Hozho Essay Assignment is a writing assignment that encourages students to think in a ‘Navajoway’ about their life. The Navajos believe in Hozho, which is the combination of ideas including beauty,happiness, harmony, and goodness. For every Navajo, maintaining this Hozho is a basic goal and anultimate value in life. After teaching this idea to students, it is then personalized in the following essayquestion: Do you think achieving Hozho is important to Japanese society? Why or why not? When youfeel that Hozho is out of balance in your life, what do you do to restore it? Please give examples.

Students found this assignment a little difficult at first, but then I explained that they should writeabout whatever makes them feel at peace. Students’ responses were varied. Some students wrote thatgetting in touch with nature brought them Hozho, while others wrote that going to karaoke or drinking abeer brought them a sense of peace.

Teaching global issues can indeed be difficult because it is necessary for the teacher to createactivities that foster creative and critical thinking. However, it is very rewarding to see that the hard workhas paid off when students are learning and are able to make a personal connection with the material theyare studying.

Global Issues in the Oral Communcation Classroom

Brian Teaman

The speaking classroom can and should be energized with global issues: This can be easily doneby spicing up existing topics that are found in conventional textbooks or providing alternativetopics for students. Teachers, of course, must check that the topics are appropriate for theirstudents’ level and give guidance accordingly.

Before looking at the specifics of how to incorporate global issues into speaking classes I’d like tomention briefly, in broad terms, a problem that this method addresses. In short, the problem is the statusquo. Looking at this problem clearly provides a justification and motivation for striving to incorporateglobal issues into the classroom. I’d like to turn the tables on those who claim that introducing topics ofglobal interest that teachers think are important is tantamount to indoctrination. On the contrary, thinkingthat “the way things are” is somehow neutral or safe is a dangerous assumption and makes the classrooma place where mass consumer culture is reinforced. Teachers become leaders who produce blind soldierswho ask no questions, consume massive quantities of resources, have no moral ideals but instead a



product identity, and leave as a heritage a trail of waste that extends from their home to the breast milk ofInuit mothers above the Arctic Circle. The language classroom can provide, if even for a brief moment, adiversion from such brainwashing and mindless parroting of the status quo.

How then does one get beyond the status quo and include topics of global interest in the speakingclassroom? Textbooks typically avoid topics of global interest and, instead, present only safe but not-so-benign topics such as driving or shopping. For example, when cars appear in textbooks, they generallyleave obvious questions ignored just as they are in everyday life. Problems such as environmentalpollution, safety, and habitat degradation are ignored. Faced with bland but not benign textbooks, thereare two approaches that can be taken to solve this problem: adapt it or replace it. The following willdescribe some ways of adapting or replacing.

The speaking class covered here focuses on fluency and students are expected to put their languageknowledge to use for communication. Students are either given a list of questions or asked to generatetheir own questions on a topic. Although certain accuracy issues are addressed, my goal is to encouragestudents to communicate by speaking. In a class with similar goals, a teacher could adapt existingmaterials by injecting questions of global interest into existing topics. One popular textbook (Bunday &Randell, 1996, pp. 41-42) includes the following questions for the topic driving:

Do you like cars?What kind of car do you want?Do you like going fast?Where do you like to go driving?Who do you like to go driving with?What’s the fastest you’ve ever been?What’s your favorite kind of car?Have you ever had an accident?

Although the last question above is getting close to the goal of incorporating global issues;however, the teacher can easily add others:

What are some problems with driving?Which is better for the environment, driving or public transportation?How do you think the problem of air pollution by cars can be solved?Do you ever leave your car idling?

Just by asking such simple questions, the discourse has been raised and students can begin thinkingof cars as more than the benign, sexy, necessary, objects that the auto companies would like them tobelieve. With a little thought, questions can be easily added to many topics:

Shopping: Do you ever bring your own bag when you go shopping?Eating out: Do you think fast food is healthy?TV: Do people watch too much television? What could one do instead of watching

television?

Besides adapting topics, one could avoid them altogether and make new ones such as‘genvironmental issues’ or ‘war and peace.’ Teachers can generate questions for students to use, or moreoften I use a technique that I call bootstrapping in which students create their own material for a topicgiven them by the teacher. Bootstrapping assures that the level of the language is within the students’reach. I have been surprised at the interesting interactions students have generated by merely giving themsuch a topic.

In preparation for a typical class using this bootstrapping method, students are assigned homeworkwhere they write five questions, answers, and follow-up questions based on the topic of the week. Using



this list of questions, students then ask and answer these questions to each other in pairs. Follow-upquestions encourage students to go deeper into the topic and lets the conversation expand beyond theirlist, and they begin to really communicate. A typical question, answer and follow-up that studentsgenerate for the topic air pollution is

Q. (question) Do you think air pollution is a big problem?A. (answer) Yes.F. (Follow-up) What are the most important causes?

OrF. Do you do anything to reduce pollution?

Students often need help with vocabulary or grammar depending on the topic. To find out what isneeded the bootstrapping method can then be employed again. Assign the topic for homework and bylooking at what students write, one can determine the kind of assistance individuals and the class itselfneeds to handle the topic effectively. They might require practice with pronunciation, as in dioxin or CO2.Grammatical structures naturally present themselves in a topic such as environmental issues. Forexample, could and should are probably required to talk about this at any length, and students can gainexperience with these forms and their meanings in such a context. For example ‘What could/should bedone to reduce air pollution?’

Conclusion

Adapting or creating materials to encompass global issues is not an impossibly difficult task as one mightthink. Teachers, with the help of their students, can create the core for such a class and provide an oasisfrom materials that merely reinforce the way things are. Classes can become part of the solution ratherthan part of the problem.

References

Bunday, D. & Randell, N. (1996). Kick-Off! Tokyo: Macmillan Language House.

Hugo, V. (1984). The Hunchback of Notre Dame. New York: Bantam Books (Translated and abridged byLowell Bair).

Iverson, P. (1990). The Navajos. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.



Section Four

Interactions


Plenary presented at JALT 2000, Shizuoka

What I want to do in this presentation is to focus on the current interest inaction research in the field of English language teaching and to explorewhat action research has to offer language teachers. In my own work,mainly in Australia, my interest has been in collaborative forms of actionresearch, that is action research which brings teacher researchers togetherin groups or networks to investigate areas of common concern.Throughout this work I have come to believe that we can learn moreabout teaching and learning as it is carried out in individual classroomcontexts, when we work with other colleagues who are part of a similareducational context and who are also attempting to understand similaraspects of their practice. It is also based on my belief that learning aboutteaching takes place when we verbalise our discoveries about our practiceand exchange experiences and ideas with other colleagues. A furtherbelief is that any real change in educational practices is more effectivelybrought about when we combine with others with similar concerns.

But it would hardly be appropriate for me to talk at JALT aboutcollaborative research - on my own and using examples from the

Australian context. So in the second half of this talk I will invitethree colleagues working in Japan to join me. They

will provide brief examples from their ownaction research interests and we will then

raise issues and share ideas related toconducting action research in Japan.

These issues are based on our emaildiscussions and interviews and

feedback from Japanesecolleagues over the last sixmonths. We will do this in thehope that it will be part of ourown learning about howaction research can beintegrated into research andpractice in the Japanese

context.Let me begin this

exploration of action researchby introducing my colleague

Pam McPherson. Pam is anAustralian teacher who works in

the Adult Migrant English Program(AMEP). This is a national program

funded by the Australian Government toprovide settlement ESL courses for adult

immigrants from all over the world. Pam wasone of 28 teachers I worked with in 1995/96 in a

collaborative classroom-based action research project whichinvestigated the teaching of disparate or mixed-level learner groups. Thisis what Pam has to say about her experience of action research:

Anne Burns, withSteve Cornwell,

Ethel Ogane andShin’ichiro

Yokomizo

TeachersAs Learners:

ExploringCollaborative Action

Research


As a TESOL teacher-practitioner I have found action research to be particularlyrelevant to my needs. The action research model is probably the most versatile methodof research for a teacher, and for me it includes the development of both researchskills and teaching expertise. It allows for a systematic examination of the effects ofteaching practice but at the same time can change direction in response to emergingneeds, thus promoting teacher and learner satisfaction. Importantly, it can be self-managed by the teacher.

Collaborative action research is a concept for me which exponentially increases thevalue of the cyclical research process. My experience of the benefits of collaborativeaction research involved a group of my peer TESOL teachers and two researcherswho coordinated the process. This group of teachers, working in varying situationsand with learners at different stages of learning, had identified the teaching of disparatelearner groups as a common issue for investigation. Collectively, we provided a richand diverse base of experience and knowledge for each individual teacher to drawupon. This placed our individual projects into a broader context without endangeringtheir unique nature. It also assisted the initial planning process in the action researchcycle. Observations of classroom events and situations when described to the groupwere reviewed through the multiple perspectives of all the individuals in the group.This provided me with the opportunity to consider issues which were not immediatelyclear to me and helped to inform the planning and action parts of the research cycle.(Burns, Hood, Lukin and McPherson, 1996)

I will come back to Pam's research a little later. But in the meantime I'd point out that her remarksseem to me to highlight some of the key questions currently relevant to the notion of teacher research,questions such as:

• How feasible is it for teachers to do research?:• What do teachers gain from doing research?• What impedes action research?• And what kinds of support do teachers need to do research?

With my colleagues, I hope at least to touch on some of these issues as they relate to the Japanesecontext.

Where did action research come from?

But first let's probe a little more this current interest in our field in AR. Where did it come from and whyis it so much the flavour of the month in discussions of language teacher development? Until fairlyrecently, it is probably fair to say that the major approach towards teacher education was a 'top-down'approach. Here, research conducted by academic researchers is used as the knowledge base needed by ateacher to manage a classroom or deliver curriculum content. This knowledge is often delivered throughtaught courses and in-services and its aim is to increase the effectiveness of teaching. The assumption isthat when problems or challenges arise in the classroom, the teacher can fall back on this body ofknowledge in order to try and find the 'right answers' about the way to proceed.

But this kind of 'transmission of knowledge' approach is likely to place the teacher in the role ofpassive consumer and implementer of knowledge. Ironically, it is unlikely to increase the efficiency ofteaching, because it misses the obvious point that teachers are positioned as 'classroom deliverytechnicians' a technicist and instrumental role that basically deskills teachers.

An alternative and more recent view of teacher development sees the teacher as an active andcritical creator of knowledge. This is a 'bottom-up' approach, a more grass-roots approach if you like.Teachers engage in tasks which encourage them to interact with their professional knowledge in order to

Burns: Teachers as Learners: Exploring Collaborative Action Research


build up and uncover their own theories about practice. In the best versions of this approach, they aregiven room to go on questioning, refine and learn about this personal teaching knowledge. Practicalquestions can relate to the immediate social classroom environment and not to an abstract ideal: 'How amI going to increase my students' motivation?' 'How can I encourage my students to speak more in class?'Why don't my students like group work?' Garth Boomer, an Australian educator referred to this as 'owned'rather than 'disowned' knowledge.

Action research is related to this second approach. It is based on the concepts of 'reflective practice'and 'the teacher as researcher.' If we delve back into the origins of these concepts we will see that theyhave their roots in a very complex mixture of educational and social movements. The common thread isone of seeing classroom practice as a continuing process of reform and change. More recently thisperspective has come to be called social-constructionism. Here are some of the historical antecedents ofthis approach:

1) the Science in Education developments of the late nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies considered how scientific methods could be applied to educationalproblems

2) progressive and experimentalist educational thinkers, notably John Dewey (1929),argued that educational practices should be tested by inductive scientific methodsof problem solving

3) the Group Dynamics Movement in social psychology and human relations in the1930s and 1940s, included social psychologists such as Kurt Lewin. Lewin wasinterested in the concept of action in group settings. He stressed the importanceof making involvement in experimental enquiry democratic and collaborativeand is sometimes considered the 'father' of action research

4) as curriculum studies emerged a field of enquiry in its own right, the role ofteachers as key participants in curriculum reform and the social organisation oflearning was acknowledged by educational philosophers such as Schwab (e.g.1969)

5) the teacher as researcher (Stenhouse, 1975) and reflective practitioner movements(Schön, 1983) gave prominence to the enquiry-based nature of teaching. Itemphasised the role of teachers in studying classroom practices as a way ofidentifying the problems and effects of curriculum implementation.

Over the last 50 years, educational action research has developed through three broad phases.

1) The first, a scientific-technical approach, emerged in the United States in the1950s and was championed in the work of Stephen Corey (1953), and Taba andNoel (1957). They argued that teachers should be involved in large-scalecurriculum design. This movement was rapidly overshadowed in the States bymore scientifically based research and development models.

2) The second approach, grew from the work of Lawrence Stenhouse and hiscolleagues John Elliot and Clem Adelman in Britain in The School CouncilHumanities Curriculum Project (1967-72) and the Ford Teaching Project (1972-5). Stenhouse's concept of the teacher as researcher took a practical orientationwhich involved scrutinising personal practice and acquiring improved teachingskills as the basis for curriculum development.

3) A third and more recent phase is associated with the work of Carr and Kemmis inAustralia, Winter and Whitehouse in the UK and Fals Borda in Colombia. It



takes a emancipatory-critical approach and proposes that action research hasits base in social movement and political action as a way of underpinningcollaborative movements for educational reform.

If we take the view - as does Schon with his notion of the reflective practitioner - that professionalpractice is 'contextualised, ambiguous and value-oriented' then action research provides a legitimate wayfor teachers to problematise and name issues of classroom practice. A research-oriented form of action -which involved trying things out and discussing one's experimentation with others - is central touncovering the local knowledge we have as professional teachers. I also believe that action research isbest carried out as far as possible in collaboration with others. This is so that the social, cultural andideological dimensions of the contexts in which we work together can become an integral - and betterunderstood -part our discussions and investigations.

In collaborative action research, the participants come together collectively as members of theresearch context. They identify common problems or dilemmas and deliberately intervene to bring aboutsystematic and informed changes in practice. For example, researchers may decide to investigateparticular aspects of teacher talk, task-based learning, the classroom culture or classroom language. Themethods used to collect action research data, usually qualitative, can be selected to dovetail with aspectsof classroom practice that might occur anyway - for example, classroom observation or journal-writing.The cyclical and ongoing nature of action research is captured in Kemmis and McTaggart's description offour essential phases:

Planning: a problem or issue is identified and a plan of action is developed in orderto bring about improvements in specific areas of the research context

Action: the plan is put into action over an agreed period of time

Observation: the effects of the action are observed and data are collected

Reflection: the effects of the action are evaluated and become the basis for furthercycles of research

(based on Kemmis and McTaggart, 1988).

Collaborative action research in action

Let me now put some flesh on the bones of this more abstract discussion. I will return to PamMcPherson's research to illustrate first, the cyclical nature of the process and second, the kinds of keyinsights that can emerge when a teacher becomes part of a collaborative research process. Pam begins:

My group was diverse in all the ways that make adult immigrant classes so interestingto teach. Ages ranged from 22-58 with equal numbers of males and females. Theycame from 15 different countries and spoke 17 different languages. Most had cometo Australia because their country of origin was now unsafe for them...

My concern was with the wide variation in the levels of spoken and written English...I was uncertain how to manage the class and felt that my planning was very 'hit andmiss'... I decided to read the literature on managing disparate learner groups and totalk to teachers in [my centre] and in community organisations and primary schooleducation about strategies they used [for mixed-ability classes]...

As a result, I decided to focus on developing materials and activities at differentlevels and to observe the responses of the learners to these materials. I documented



these observations [using a journal and drawing up diagrams of classroom interaction]and began to realise how much I tended to 'control' their learning by dispersingmaterials at 'appropriate' levels. When I allowed the students to take control, theyworked with the [materials] in different ways which they found personally effective.

However, at this point I became concerned about another aspect of the class. I observedthat the students would not cooperate to undertake joint activities. They were alsostarting to express exasperation, boredom, irritation and once, near hostility, as Ibrought to the classroom lessons and activities I thought were interesting and relevant,but which they were not prepared to participate in...

I decided on a strategy of individual consultation. I spoke to each student about whatthey were learning, how they were learning and how they could develop their skills.I documented their comments and followed with activities designed to enhance theirrequested learning areas. I also documented comments on their reactions to myclassroom activities...

I began to see emerging patterns and to uncover the reasons for the rejected activities.Student comments and reactions indicated that discussions that revolved aroundcultural or social difference were not acceptable... On a class excursion, I learnedthat the students were aware of deep ethnic, religious and political differences becauseof their experiences of the part of the world they had just left [former Yugoslavia]...I suddenly realised how difficult it had been for them to maintain the veneer ofcourtesy and civility when I was introducing activities which demanded that theyexpose and discuss the differences they were attempting to ignore!... (McPherson,1997)

For Pam, her research could not remain an asocial or apolitical process removed from broadercultural and social issues. It led her 'to bring into question all the teaching values I held and to justify tomyself and others the theoretical principles underlying my teaching practice (p.30)'. She made changes toher (normally communicative) teaching approach in terms of tasks, materials and classroom interactionsthat she would normally have discarded. Within the sociocultural context of this classroom and theparticular needs of her learners a highly structured approach was required, with neutral and non-controversial tasks and it was this - in contrast to her usual teaching philosophy - that proved effective.

Her research also highlighted a broader organisational issue beyond her individual classroom, whichwas also being expressed by her colleagues. This was to develop more effective curricula, learningprograms, activities and support for the increasing numbers of learners entering the program who werethe victims of war, torture or trauma. The skills Pam gained in conducting research in this project weretaken into a further project investigating the special needs of such learners.

So far I have painted a positive picture of action research. But what of the negative aspects?Teachers I have worked with have highlighted some of the difficulties of doing action research:

* having the time to carry out research in addition to their usual teaching* being disciplined and systematic about writing up or documenting data* the logistics of collecting data at the same time as teaching* uncertainty about whether what they were doing was 'right' and whether they were

going about the data collection effectively* exposing their teaching to other teachers and to researchers* the pressure of additional practical arrangements, like finding equipment and

remembering to tape their classroom interaction* the tedium of recording data regularly and of writing about classroom issues rather



than just thinking about them* not wanting to exhaust their learners' goodwill if they were the major focus of the

data collection* writing up the research outcomes for public consumption

Critics of AR question its rigour and whether it qualifies as a valid research approach. It sometimessuffers from comparisons with experimental research which places value on objectivity, rationality andgeneralisability. It has been criticised for its 'sloppy' methodologies, the lack of research training of thosewho conduct it, and its ability to contribute to theoretical developments. Others have pointed to thetension between 'action' and 'research' and to the different perspectives of teachers and researchers oneducational questions.

However, because of its broad scope and flexibility action research could potentially have numerousapplications to the field of language teaching (Crookes, 1993):

* to be an impetus for individual and group action and elucidate immediate teachingor learning problems (Nunan, 1990, Wallace, 1998)

* to facilitate continuing professional development and teacher education (Richardsand Nunan, 1990; van Lier, 1996; Freeman, 1998)

* to underpin educational change and innovation (Goswami and Stillman, 1987,Markee, 1997)

* to play a role in the evaluation of teaching and learning programmes (Murphy,1996)

* to stimulate school and organisational renewal (Elliott, 1991, Burns, 1999) topromote researcher and teacher partnerships (Somekh, 1994)

* to support broad educational trends towards school-based curriculum development(Hopkins, 1993).

As the research focus is on the classroom and on immediate practical concerns in teaching, actionresearch holds promise as a site for building theories about language teaching which are potentially ofvalue and interest to other teachers.

Action research and the Japanese context

Over the last nine months, I have been corresponding regularly with the three colleagues in Japan I haveinvited to join me. We have been discussing what teachers think about action research and whatdevelopments are happening here. I'd like to invite these colleagues to introduce themselves and talk alittle about their interests and experiences :

Ethel Ogane: I was first introduced to action research about three years ago ingraduate school. Right now, I am doing more of an individualistic type of AR, oneteacher looking at a classroom activity, e-mail dialogue journaling with students. Ihope one day to work on collaborative AR projects in which students, teachers, andother stakeholders are co-researchers. I think teachers need to talk to other teachersand need a lot of support in any AR undertaking. I've gotten a lot out of the ARretreats that the Teacher Education SIG has organised for the past three years. I'vemet teachers who are committed to action and reflection, change and cogenerationof new meanings in their teaching and classrooms. I've also been privileged to workwith Neil Cowie, editing a special issue of The Language teacher on AR and leadingan AR workshop for the Omiya Chapter together.

Shin’ichiro Yokomizo: I'm most interested in whether and how AR can contributeto teacher development despite different teaching experiences. Over the last three



years I've been offering courses, workshops and lectures for teachers of Japanese,developing an action research network in Japanese, and conducting AR alone and incollaboration with three colleagues who form a support group over one semester.I've also introduced AR into a teaching practicum for Japanese as a second languagewhere students conduct their own research on their individual interests for onesemester.

Steve Cornwell: I was first exposed to AR in a class at graduate school. It appealedto me that teachers could research their classes in an effort to effect change or improvetheir teaching. I've used AR to study the use of first language in the classroom. Mypurpose was to get students to take responsibility for their use of English. With othercolleagues I've made use of the idea of reflective teaching too and I've also workedwith teachers at my school as a sort of AR sounding board. They wanted to seestudents would evaluate their peers more objectively if they used a student designedform rather than a teacher designed form.

Anne: From our email discussions and two surveys we conducted recently we'veformed some joint impressions about AR in Japan that we'd like to share with you.We'd also like to draw out some of the key points for further discussion. In generalthere seems to be a growing interest and acceptance of AR in Japan (e.g. recentspecial issues of TLT, increasing numbers of articles published on AR in TLT andJALT Journal, several presentations at JALT and at chapter meetings). In our surveyof 28 participants recently attending action research workshops in Japan, colleaguesreported various benefits of AR:

• encourages reading, looking for professional collaboration, networkingand development

• getting to know more about research and philosophies of research(interpretive vs. positive)

• self-improvement, confidence-building, invigoration• teacher improvement (techniques, skills, procedures of teaching)• improving teaching• professional development• providing research carried out by those best placed to solve problems,

improve practice and enhance understanding• self-knowledge• improving lessons, developing teaching skills and creating good

relationships between teachers and students• getting to know your environment more specifically• challenging yourself to look at what you think you know and might not

know• greater knowledge, skills and understanding of self, learners and

classroom• understanding students better, understanding effects of actions on

students, finding new ways/ideas• looking at your classroom as an organic process of learning/change, using

this to work/collaborate with others

Shin, could you talk a little further about this research.

Shin: We asked these participants to provide examples of research they have



conducted in Japan. These are some of the areas they've investigated:

• students and homework expectations• feedback and its effects on student writing• collaboration with other teachers on teaching writing• comparing teacher-provided vs. student-provided source materials in

preparing for essay writing• increasing interaction among students to develop communicative

competence• understanding student motivation and learning

Anne: Ethel, people also highlighted what they found more difficult about conductingaction research.

Ethel: Yes, another question we asked was what was hardest to understand aboutAR? The main issues seemed to focus around these areas:

• why do it on a limited, highly focused, personal question?• how to generalise what is researched (need to generalise?)• what it is• collecting, analysing, interpreting data• the theoretical underpinnings• how it is different from other research

Anne: Steve, could you talk a bit more about this?

Steve: Yes, people were also asked to identify the major challenges they'd facedwhen they tried action research. The ones identified were:

• involving students with limited English• maintaining motivation in an isolated working environment• knowing when to stop - a continuing process!• collaborating with colleagues• being clear about why you are doing it-• clarifying useful questions• starting a new method in a classroom• time• finding/focusing/narrowing the question

Ethel : Anne, looking back at some of these responses, I must say I've also wonderedmyself about the question: What is AR? What makes it different from other types ofresearch? I've got the impression from various sources that AR or TR is somehowlower in scale than other kinds of research. For example, AR is small scale and forteachers and most TR studies are teachers' little stories. I suppose this is the issue of'why do it on a limited, highly focused, personal question', that one of our surveyrespondents raised.

Anne: Well, these are big questions, but I'll have to be brief! It's true - AR has amore uncertain status compared with the dominant experimental research model.This is based on research in the natural sciences, with an interest more recently inthe interpretive model which aims to bring in the perspectives of participants in the



educational process. Action research represents something of a departure from - andalso a challenge to - both these models because it aims to promote change in specificsituations rather than discover general truths or laws. Researchers and practitionerstend to define educational problems differently - so there can be a gap betweenresearch and classroom practice. Action research tries to close this gap and it alsotries to be responsive to realistic social problems and issues.In our field, interest in action research is certainly on the increase as we can see fromseveral new publications and journal articles (listed in the conference handout). Andwe are seeing a worldwide network of people interested in collaborative forms ofAR - for example Dick Allwright's work in Brazil, Donald Freeman's work in theUS, my own work in Australia, Gertrude Tinker Sachs in Hong Kong, GrahamCrookes in Hawaii and so on. So I see this as producing a groundswell of support forwhat Graham Crookes called - in the special issue of TLT you co-edited last year,Ethel - 'a genre of academic action research'. Hopefully, this will encourage moreresearchers and teachers to do AR and also to produce AR journal articles. Steve orShin, is there anything you'd like to bring up?

Shin: I'd like to raise a problem that I have found - but I don't think it is limited justto the Japanese context. I personally believe that no one can force practitioners toconduct AR. And, at the same time, as an AR promoter, I strongly believe that doingAR brings new perspectives and creates strong motivation for better teaching. In thecase of in-service teachers I work with though, it has been difficult to get them to doaction research. So my question is how can I encourage teachers to do action research?

Anne: Well the transmission modes of teacher in-service that I referred to earlier arestill very strong in most parts of the world, and so teachers may expect a passivestyle of in-service. Also many teachers are 'deskilled' in the sense that they are oftenseen by Education Departments and school principals as being there to follow thecurriculum or the textbooks that have been developed at the top, not to question orcritique practical issues. And so they are led to believe that their own judgementsabout teaching and learning are not valid. This form of thinking about teaching isnot easily changed, especially for newer teachers who are still struggling to learnabout teaching.Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) point out that 'change is a process not an event'.Getting people to change overnight and suddenly do action research is unlikely tohappen. So one has to start small with those who are interested. Hopefully, byexperiencing AR they will become enthusiastic and then spread the message to others.Jean McNiff in her book Action research: Principles and practices has a few tipsabout being an action research promoter which I have found useful - don't give up,enlist the help of other colleagues, be prepared to compromise, keep a positive attitudeand go public.In my own work I've encouraged teachers to get into action research by workingtogether on topics of common interest, for example, teaching vocabulary ordeveloping writing skills. Then each teacher uses this topic to investigate an aspectof it in their classroom. If people are not sure where to begin, I suggest some startingstatements, like "I'd like to know more about how my students..." As far as possible,I encourage teachers to integrate their research into questions about what they wouldteach anyway - a bit like Dick Allwright's notion of 'exploratory practice'. All thishelps to narrow the focus for the research.

Shin: Yes, one of our survey respondents highlighted this idea by saying "talk to



others and see whether they have the same questions (if so it's something to investigateor a huge problem)".

Anne: The other thing we do is negotiate a time-line for regular workshop sessionswith a clear beginning and ending date so that people know their commitments. Forpeople new to AR we usually make this a realistic and fairly short period of time, sothey don't become exhausted. The regular meetings also help teachers to share ideasabout teaching activities they have developed, or discuss findings. I also think it'svery important for teachers to present their research to others either by writing aboutit or doing presentations to others. What about your experiences, Steve?

Steve: Some of my issues are similar to Shin's and not necessarily unique to theJapanese context. At the conference and in this plenary we've heard a lot about ARand recently there have been several workshops on it as well. I'm interested in howone can find collaborators. This may be part of the Japanese context but I senseteachers at my school don't want to open their classroom to others. This is verydifferent from the way I was trained where observation was a normal necessary partof teacher development. How do we get and keep the momentum going? How doyou suggest we coordinate projects, make connections between teachers and so on.

Anne: I agree with you that observing other colleagues teach is an excellent way tolearn more about your own teaching. If pairs of teacher can arrange to observe eachother, that's a great way to begin a dialogue about common assumptions, teachingtheories or curriculum demands. But I don't think that's the only way to get themomentum going.First of all, I think we need to focus as far as possible on group, rather than individualaction research projects. I don't mean that people shouldn't do individual projects,but I do think that AR is essentially a kind of grass-roots movement for change andreform that is best carried out by groups of people closely involved in the context. Inother words, by identifying and researching common problems or issues - and I keepbeing told there are recurring ones in the Japanese context, such as getting studentsto participate actively or making decisions about the use of LI - we can get togetheras far as possible to conduct the research together and to pool ideas for tacklingthese issues.Secondly, I think we need a multi-pronged approach to setting up projects anddisseminating information about them. The emphasis needs to be on groups andnetworks and on multiple simultaneous strategies. McDonald and his colleagues(1993) in Australia suggest that people-centred and people-assisting activities areusually more effective ways of communicating about research than information-centred activities alone. Information-centred activities simply distribute material and/or information and assume that people will learn from it. People-centred activitieson the other hand involve getting people together to exchange and interpretinformation. So the JALT conference, the activities organised by the chapters, theSIGs, the listserves, and talks and seminars organised at the local school or universitylevel are all ways to raise awareness and get people interested in AR.

Steve: That reminds me that we had people in our surveys saying things like I'mattending the workshop to try and find out what AR is' or 'I want to look at AR andsee if it is applicable to my situation'.

Anne: Exactly, so offering these kinds of activities is very important for establishing



the kinds of connections you referred to. People-assisting activities go together withpeople-centred activities. These involve helping people to obtain information andmake choices. Here you might involve a workshop leader, a visiting speaker or anexperienced teacher interested in this topic, who can act as a resource person.

Ethel: Again in our survey we had one person say, 'at an earlier workshop I feltpeople wanted to learn about AR, so I volunteered to co-lead this workshop'.

Anne: Yes, it's very helpful if there are people who can act as faciliators or leadersand can help others decide on research areas and provide guidance at strategic points.This is the kind of role I have taken with teachers I have worked with in Australia.When such a person is not available, I've also known teachers establish their ownreading circles where they read an article about a teaching approach, and then discussit, try it out in the classroom and then help each other to draw out implications andoptions.Of course, I'm well aware that some teachers work in environments where they areisolated - or ostracised even - if they show an interest in action research. These areadmittedly more intractable, long-term issues to do with professional standards andeven political and cultural changes. But I don't think it's impossible in the meantimeto link up with others to establish and expand AR networks if you focus on havingthese kinds of multiple processes in place. Professional associations, national suchas JALT and international such as TESOL, as well as individuals will have a majorrole to play here.

Ethel: Anne, there are obviously a lot more issues to discuss. Before we finish, doyou have some final words of advice about doing action research?

Anne: Well, I think our survey respondents highlighted several of the major issues:

1. Focusing your research

• know the focus of your question so you don't take on more than you canhandle

• try to have a clear conceptualisation about why you are doing it

• specify!

2. Collaborating with others

• talk to others and see whether they have the same questions (if so it'ssomething to investigate or a HUGE problem)

• prepare: join groups

3. Working within your resources and constraints

• continue for a certain period

• be prepared for the fact that research is time-consuming



4. Finding a voice for your research

• try and write as much as you can as you go along, don't just collectinformation and leave it

All this is very useful practical advice. I'd like to add my encouragement to continuethe action research processes you have begun in Japan. Action research is an importantmedium for teacher empowerment and professional collaboration. I think we'd allhope that this presentation has gone some way to continuing the dialogue, extendingthe networks in the Japanese context and offering some new thoughts about teachersas learners in the new millennium.

*Note

This plenary included an interactive discussion which was negotiated by the participants by email beforethe presentation. We have tried to preserve the interactive format in the written version and this is whythis contribution does not conform to the usual academic conventions of a plenary paper.

References

Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Burns, A., S. Hood, A Lukin and P. McPherson (1996). Expanding the professionalism of TESOL practi-tioners through action research. Paper prepared for the Research Symposium, 30th Annual TESOLConvention, Chicago, March 1996.

Corey, S. (1953). Action Research to Improve School Practices. Columbia University, New York: Teach-ers College Press.

Crookes, G. (1993). 'Action Research for Second Language Teachers: going beyond teacher research,'Applied Linguistics 14, 2: 130-144.

Dewey, J. (1929). The Sources of a Science of Education. New York: Horace Liveright.

Elliott, J. (1991) Action Research for Educational Change. Milton Keynes: Open University.

Hodgkinson, H.L. (1957). 'Action Research - a critique'. Journal of Educational Sociology, 31, 4: 137-153.

Halsey, A.H. (ed.) (1972) Educational Priority Volume 1: Educational Priority Area Problems and Prac-tice. London: HMSO.

Hopkins, D. (1993). 2nd ed. A Teacher's Guide to Classroom Research. Milton Keynes: Open University.

Freeman, D. (1998). Doing Teacher Research. From Inquiry to Understanding. New York: Heinle andHeinle.

Goswami, D. and Stillman, P.R. (1987). Reclaiming the Classroom. Teacher Research as an Agency forChange. Portsmouth, NH.: Heinemann Boynton/Cook.

Lewin, K. (1946) 'Action research and minority problems'. Journal of Social Issues 2, 4: 34-46.

Kemmis, S. and McTaggart, R. (eds) (1988) 3rd ed. The Action Research Planner. Deakin University,Victoria: Deakin University Press.

Markee, N. (1997). Managing Curricular Innovation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

McDonald, R., Hayton, G., Gonzi, A. and Hager, P. (1993). No Small Change. Sydney: Research Centrefor Vocational Education and Training, University of Technology, Sydney.



McPherson, P. (1997). Action research: Exploring learner diversity. Prospect, 12, 1: 50-62.

Murphy, D. (1996) 'The Evaluator's Apprentices. Learning to do evaluation.' Evaluation 2, 3: 321-338.

Nunan, D. (1990) 'Action Research in the Language Classroom', in J.C Richards and D. Nunan (eds).Second Language Teacher Education, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J.C. and Nunan, D. (eds) (1990). Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Schwab, J.J. (1969). 'The practical: a language for curriculum.' School Review 78, 1: 1-23.

Somekh, B. (1994). 'Inhabiting Each Other's Castles: towards knowledge and mutual growth throughcollaboration.' Educational Action Research 2, 3: 357-381.

Stenhouse, L. (1975). Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development. London: Heinemann.

Schön, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: BasicBooks.

Taba, H. and Noel, E. (1957). Action Research: A Case Study. Washington: Association for Supervisionand Curriculum Development.

van Lier, L. (1996) Interaction in the Language Curriculum. Awareness, Autonomy and Authenticity.London: Longman.

Wallace, M. J. (1998). Action Research for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Winter, R. (1982). '"Dilemma analysis": a contribution to methodology for action research.' CambridgeJournal of Education 12, 3: 161-74.



Teachers’ lives are full of questions and yet not all questions can beadequately examined through the lens of quantitative research methods.Accordingly, qualitative research techniques such as those taken fromethnography, case study research and participant observation are beingincreasingly employed to investigate questions in language education.This paper serves as an introduction to the use of qualitative researchtechniques that may be used to study issues of agency, gendered andpower relations, and questions of identity that confront the languageteacher today (For more detailed information see: Denzin & Lincoln,1998; Freeman, 1998; Guba & Lincoln, 1998; Maxwell, 1996). Drawingfrom the experience and work of three researchers in Japan, this paperaddresses three practical areas that are often confusing to teachers whowant to begin looking at their classes through a qualitative research lens.It will first outline the process of developing researchable questions.Next, the process of data collection and a description of how datacollection interacts with other components (research questions,conceptual framework, etc.) of the research process (Denzin & Lincoln,1994; Maxwell, 1996; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Spradley, 1980) shall bediscussed. Finally, the paper will close with a discussion of data analysis

using examples from current research. Japanese Abstract

教師生活は疑問に満ちている。しかしそんな疑問は、結果が数字であらわれるクオン

ティテイティブ・リサーχの目を通してでは、適切な答をみつけられないこともあ

る。しかるに、エスノグラフィ、ケーススタディ、パーティシパント・オ

ブザベイションなどからとったクオリテイティブな研究方法（(Denzin & Lincoln, 1998; Free-man, 1998; Guba & Lincoln,1989; Maxwell, 1996)　が、語学教育を研究調査する上で用いられることが増えてきた。この論文は、語学教師が直面するprocesses, transitions,gender　や power relationsさらには identity　の研究に

取り入れうる、クオリテイティブな研究方法を紹介する。本稿は、はじめに、３人の研究

者の経験や実績から、研究の対象となりうる課題を見い出していく過程を概観する。次にデータの

収集過程（(Denzin & Lincoln, 1994;Maxwell, 1996; Miles & Huberman,

1994; Spradley, 1980)　と、集めたデータをどのようにその研究の課題と、あるいは

既存の学説とむすびつけていくかについて論じる。むすびに現在進行中の研究を例にとって、データ

分析について検討する。

Teachers’ lives are full of questions. Questions that sometimes requiredifferent research approaches. If you feel that there are multiple realitiesin classrooms and that both you and your students create the

Steve CornwellOsaka Jogakuin Junior College

Eton ChurchillTemple University JapanAndrea Maeda

Ichimura Gakuen Junior College

UnderstandingClassrooms:A Qualitative

Approach


understandings that occur, then qualitative research techniques such as those taken from ethnography,case study research, and participant observation might best address the questions you are interested in.This paper serves as an introduction to the use of qualitative research techniques that may be used tostudy issues of agency, gendered and power relations, and questions of identity that confront the languageteacher today (For more detailed information see: Denzin & Lincoln, 1998; Freeman, 1998; Guba &Lincoln, 1998; Maxwell, 1996)

Drawing from the experience and on-going work of three researchers in Japan, this paper addressesthree practical areas that are often confusing to teachers who want to begin looking at their classesthrough a qualitative research lens. It first outlines the process of developing researchable questions.Next, it discusses the process of data collection and a description of how data collection interacts withother components of the research process (research questions, conceptual frameworks, etc.) (Denzin &Lincoln, 1994; Maxwell, 1996; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Spradley, 1980). The paper closes with adiscussion of data analysis using examples from current research.

The on-going work mentioned above, and used as examples during the colloquium, consists of threeprojects:

• Reevaluating learner needs in a short-term exchange (Churchill, In Progress)In a collaborative effort using participant observation and students-as-ethnographers, the researcher obtained information for a needs analysis ofJapanese learners participating in a short-term exchange to the United States.Informal interviews of the participants, host families, and host faculty wereconducted to help triangulate the study.

• Gender and Language Issues Class (Maeda, In Progress)This study is an ongoing ethnographic investigation of junior collegestudents’ attitudes toward gender issues and education. Through conductingresearch in the context of a gender and language issues class, the researcherlooked at students’ ways of negotiating meaning and constructing theiridentities as female learners within the junior college culture.

• Students’ Decision-Making Process (Kim & Cornwell, 2000)This study is set in the context of a junior college that does not see itself as afinishing school but rather as a place where students’ horizons can bebroadened. It examined the choices students make focusing particularly on agroup of third-year students who chose to continue studying in the juniorcollege rather than transfer to a four-year school.

Developing Researchable Questions

Educators’ lives are full of questions and assumptions about the teaching processes in their respectivecontexts. Discourse among teachers in a typical faculty room will contain many questions and pet theoriesabout why students act in a particular way or why a given activity succeeds or fails. However, few ofthese questions or theories get articulated into actual research questions.

Settling on a research question is foremost a process of discovery. This process typically beginswith a questioning of learner (or teacher) behavior in one’s own teaching environment. These initialobservations are supplemented by knowledge of literature in the field to form working questions. Once ageneral area of interest has been settled on and working questions have been articulated, the researchermust then go through a process of introspection and engage in further observations and readings to helpclarify the research question(s). As Freeman (1998) so aptly writes, “Being clear about your researchquestions is not usually where you begin in the teacher-research process, but it is usually where you endup” (p. 52). This process of generating research questions can be facilitated by activities such as reflexivewriting, the sharing of problems with peers, and further reading of the literature. Once an area of interest

Cornwell et.al.: Understanding Classrooms: A Qualitative Approach


has been defined, further reading of the literature not only helps to see how others have investigated thequestion, but also provides the researcher with hints of new areas to investigate. Similarly, discussionwith peers can give fresh insight to the problem under consideration. Finally, many researchers keepreflexive journals to help refine their questions. By recording observations on a regular basis and bycommenting to oneself in journal form, the researcher can engage in a form of brainstorming that helpsfocus his/her research.

Once a research question has been generated, it is essential that the researcher put both the questionand their perspective on the question under further scrutiny. In this vein, Maxwell (1996) encouragesresearchers to “identify your ignorance and critically challenge your assumptions” (p. 53). In terms ofone’s assumptions, Erikson (1986) calls on the researcher to make explicit the “frame of interpretation”that is being used to investigate the question (p. 140). In terms of one’s ignorance, Spradley (1980)explains that the researcher must question which areas of tacit knowledge he/she intends to explore (p.30-31). Accordingly, the researcher must consider macro-issues (race, class, theories, etc.) that couldinform the study. Thus, the researcher must define the range of cultural/social description andinterpretation that is needed for the study.

On a practical level, the researcher needs to determine the research sites, data, and resources that areavailable, and what implications these have for the scope and perspective of the study. To determine if aquestion is in fact researchable, it may be helpful to submit it to a sort of litmus test. This can be done bycomparing the question with characteristics of qualitative research questions found in the publishedliterature. Such questions are open-ended, often based in theory, and they indicate where and how the datawill be collected. Furthermore, the questions attempt to generate understandings in an emic approach; anemic approach is one that generates meaning from the perspective of participants rather than theresearchers. In this way, the questions attempt to use particular and local contexts to generate richdescriptions that may be informative in considering macro-issues. Without loosing sight of the largersocial/cultural issues that may inform the study, the questions do not pretend to make overreachinggeneralizations based on the study of a specific context.

Data Collection

Among the techniques that the authors have used are: questionnaires, observation, researcher memos andnotes, worksheets and student journals, structured and unstructured interviews, focus groups (groupinterviews), students-as-ethnographer memos, e-mail correspondence, school documents such asrecruitment brochures, employment schedules, president’s speeches, audio and video clips, etc. However,in light of the emic requirement of qualitative research, the researcher must decide on which technique(s)will best facilitate a complete description of the participants’ “social situation” (Spradley, 1980) thatinvolves the actors (students/teachers/administrators), the place (junior college/inside-outside classroom),and the activities (going to school/job-hunting). Davis (1995) suggests the following data collectionguidelines to insure that a study meets the requirements of the interpretive paradigm or what Geertz(1973) labeled “thick description” — a holistic depiction of how the participants themselves interprettheir sociocultural context.

1. Consider the construction or co-construction of meaning at least one level upfrom the actual social situation being investigated. For example, to understand thelocal EFL culture of female learners in the classroom it may be necessary to alsolook at the macro-level contexts of women in Japanese society. That is, patriarchalideologies in the educational system, government, and business sectors interact in amyriad of ways that adversely affect schooling practices.

2. Anticipate a cyclical process during the investigation in which data collectionmethods may be restricted or expanded on the basis of the “emergent” (Lincoln &Guba, 1985) nature of qualitative research. In addition to individual interviews, itwas found that focus group sessions (focus groups are a form of group interview)



helped to provide a more complete “insider’s view” of junior college life becausethis procedure’s dynamics facilitated a collaborative construction of meaning amongthe participants.

3. Enhance the study’s “credibility” through specific procedures such as prolongedengagement, participant observation, member checks, and triangulation to mentiona few. Prolonged engagement refers to spending enough time on a project. Oftenbeginning researchers after spending a week or two gathering data are tempted toreport on their projects. It is doubtful that anyone can really get an insider’s view insuch a short time.

Participant observation (Spradley, 1980) is when the researcher may choose at times to “participate”or take part in an activity as both the researcher and participant, e.g. a teacher-researcher in a classroom.

Research partnerships lend themselves to collaboration and member checks. Insights gained fromconversations with other researchers involved in qualitative research lead to new areas of investigation. Inthe same manner, participants can also help confirm or disconfirm research hypotheses. In addition,working in a Japanese context often means some of our data will be in both English and Japanese.Bilingual data collection necessitates native speaker checks. Triangulation refers to using multiplesources, methods, and researchers to collect data. For example, in addition to your data collection, youcan involve students as ethnographers to gather data; students are often able to get an emic perspectiveeasier than you as an outside researcher can.

Systematic data collection can help ensure the credibility of a study (Maxwell, 1996). Theresearcher may unconsciously collect data to fit preconceived ideas about a situation without recognizingdiscrepant data that would lead to alternative interpretations. To avoid this problem, Maxwell emphasizesthe importance of verbatim transcriptions of audio or video recordings and making “observational notesas detailed, concrete, and chronological as possible,” (p. 89). In addition, while triangulation will notautomatically increase the validity of a study it can help.

We should try to make one thing clear. Our task as qualitative researchers is not to use systematicdata collection procedures in order to “attain some ultimate truth” (Maxwell, p. 87) but rather to enablethe reader to judge the “trustworthiness” (Mishler, 1990) of a study. This can be accomplished throughprolonged, rigorous methods that lead to an understanding of how the participants interpret events andexperiences.

Finally, the notion of “reflexivity” (Maxwell, p. 91) can contribute to the issue of researchcredibility. It is impossible to completely eliminate researcher bias, but it is possible to understand howyour biases affect the study and to then modify your data collection techniques to allow alternativeinterpretations to emerge. For example, in interview situations, the researcher’s physical presence alonecoupled with the types of questions that are asked will greatly influence the informant’s answers.Spradley (1979) provides very specific ethnographic techniques to help control for unwanted researcherbias. His three main types of questions are descriptive, structural, and contrast. “Grand tour” and “mini-tour” observations (p. 86-88) involve having the participants describe their social situation beginning withvery broad descriptions that lead to finer details. Structural and contrast questions move the observationsaway from shallow descriptions by having the informant give examples, compare, and contrast categoriesthat help the ethnographer construct her semantic analysis of the cultural situation.

Data Analysis

Data analysis is the process of taking the data apart to see what is there and then putting them together tosee how they respond to the question or puzzle under investigation. Three helpful books with goodsections on analysis are: Qualitative Data Analysis by Miles and Huberman (1994); Doing TeacherResearch by Freeman (1998), and Transforming Qualitative Data by Wolcott (1994). A caveat should bementioned here: Qualitative data analysis is not something you do one time; it is done throughout yourresearch.



While there are many ways to do qualitative research, there are some recurring features common tothe different types. Some of the features Miles and Huberman (1994) discuss have already beenmentioned: prolonged contact, trying to get an insider’s view, realizing many interpretations are possiblebut that some are more compelling for theoretical reasons, accepting that the researcher is the main“measurement device.” Furthermore there are some common features in the analysis of data such asaffixing codes; noting reflections, sorting and shifting through material to identify similarities,relationships, distinct differences, common sequences, isolating patterns and processes, etc.

Freeman provides a useful framework for data analysis; the framework consists of four basicelements:

• Naming (sometimes referred to as coding)—labeling the data in some way;

• Grouping—reassembling the names you are giving to parts of the data by collectingthem into categories;

• Finding Relationships—identifying patterns; seeing relationships among the groupsand/or categories; and

• Displaying—setting out the patterns and relationships you see by making themvisible (Freeman, 1998, pp. 99-106).

Names or codes can come from outside the data, for example from previous research, or they cancome from the data itself. The first type are called a priori codes; the later grounded codes. Within oneresearch project you might use both. Looking at an example from Maeda (In Progress) we see that Maedafound that students at times exhibited what she named “defiance” when dealing with certain professors oreven each other. She did not go looking for this; it came out of the various focus groups, observationnotes, reflective memos that she gathered. This is an example of grounded data. On the other hand, beingfamiliar with critical feminist pedagogy literature and knowing that junior college students are oftendisempowered, and that the school system replicates roles that are undervalued, Maeda could have lookedfor examples of how students resist what is seen as an unfair system. By preselecting a term, resistance,from the literature, she would be doing a priori coding.

In Churchill’s study (in Progress) we have an example of categories coming out of the data. Bylooking at students’ field notes and essays written both in the US and Japan Churchill found twocontrasting categories which he juxtaposes as “Family Life in Japan—no time to talk” vs. “Family Life inAmerica—Sharing time and stories.”

Kim and Cornwell (2000) systematically coded transcripts of their interviews. For example, in oneinterview a student commented, “Before I didn’t enjoy studying, but now I do.” That statement receivedtwo codes: “Before/Now” and “Study.” Those codes were then assigned to groups (the second step:grouping) that made sense to the researchers. Kim and Cornwell grouped over 40 codes into nine maincategories; Table one shows three of the categories and fourteen of the codes. We should note that otherresearchers might have coded or grouped the data differently.

Table One: Coding and Grouping

Category: Choosing the Third year programCode DescriptorBefore/Now Mention of 2nd year versus the third yearCurriculum The third year has a tough imageAdvice When third year students talk to others about the 3rd yearUnique Unique school



Category: Positive AspectsCode DescriptorGain What they think they got from the 3rd year programThink Mention of having to think more deeply/ in more detailAttitude Positive attitudeConfidence Building Confidence

Category: ExpectationsCode DescriptorChallenge School should push them/ not be too easyCredit Wanted to get credit for 2nd year classesImprove Suggested changes to the programNo Makeup No chance to make up any failed 3rd year classesDisappointment Disappointment in the ProgramClass size Comments about the size of 3rd year classes

Data analysis is not really a linear process. Once you begin the process you will be developinggroups and looking at codes simultaneously over and over again. You do this to try to accomplish thethird step of the Freeman framework, finding relationships. Using Kim and Cornwell as an exampleagain, they found the code Before and Now coming up often. They saw that it seemed to be emerging assomething that many students mentioned, and in the data there were connections with other codes such asattitudes, disappointment, peers and too busy. We are only listing one brief example of findingrelationships, but you can see that by looking at all the data many times, interesting groupings andrelationships can begin to appear.

The final step in the Freeman framework is displaying. Freeman suggests that displaying your datais a good way of showing any relationships and patterns that might exist. Looking at Figure One we cansee the a visual image of the relationships Kim and Cornwell found.

Figure 1: Data Analysis Relationships and Patterns

Once in Senkoka How students• Supportive Peers change• Everybody wants Busy • Think Deeply Gain

to Study • Get Confidence Something !!• Students Prepare Difficult • Speak Clearly

for classes • Write Better

Avoiding Problems Before SenkokaEscape or Run-away

Note: Senkoka is the name of the 3rd year program.

They found that while students complained about being busy and about the difficulty of the classes,it was those very things (being busy and being challenged) that led to the changes that occurred and



eventually to what students referred to as “gaining something.”

Conclusion

Qualitative research provides the investigative tools for a more comprehensive and informed examinationand understanding of current language learning and research issues. This report addresses the call toTESOL educators and theorists to include “social and cultural considerations and, in particular, the use ofassociated ethnographic methods in the study of language acquisition” (Davis, 1995, p. 429). Theoverarching approach that the three authors take towards exploring questions about their particularteaching situations is congruent with recent SLA research trends that conceptualize “the language learneras having a complex social identity that must be understood with reference to larger, and frequentlyinequitable social structures which are reproduced in day-today social interaction” (Norton Pierce, 1995,p.13). Unraveling the complexity of our learners’ social situations through qualitative research highlightsthe fluid, ever-changing nature of our students’ lives. It also underscores the need for teachers to initiatecurricula that mitigate rather than perpetuate powerful societal forces (marginalization, racism, sexism)that impede successful second language acquisition.

References

Churchill, E. (In progress). Reevaluating needs in a short-term exchange. Unpublished doctoral disserta-tion, Temple University Japan, Osaka.

Davis, K. (1995). Qualitative theory and methods in applied linguistic research. TESOL Quarterly 29,427-454.

Erikson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook ofresearch on teaching (pp. 119-161). New York: Collier-Macmillan.

Freeman, D. (1998) Doing teacher research: From inquiry to understanding. New York: Heinle & Heinle.

Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York: Basic Books.

Kim, S. & Cornwell, S. (2000). So you want to be Senkoka: Through your choice what have you become?Osaka Jogakuin Junior College Kiyo, 29, 137-159.

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Maeda, A. (In Progress). Unraveling and reweaving lives: A critical ethnography of a junior college EFLculture. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Temple University Japan, Osaka.

Maxwell, J. (1996). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Miles, M. & Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis. An expanded source book. ThousandOaks: Sage Publications

Mishler, E. (1990). Validation in inquiry-guided research: The role of exemplars in narrative studies.Harvard Educational Review, 60 (4), 415-442. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Norton-Peirce, B. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly , 29 (1),9-31.

Spradley, J. P. (1979). The ethnographic interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Spradley, J.P. (1980). Participant observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Wolcott, H. F. (1994). Transforming qualitative data: Description, analysis, interpretation. ThousandOaks, CA: Sage.



Tim AshwellKomazawa Junior College

Andy BarfieldUniversity of Tsukuba

Neil CowieSaitama UniversityAlan Milne

University of TsukubaMike Nix

Chuo University.Moderator:

Dorothy ZemachCentral Michigan University

CollaborativeAction

Researchwith

L2 Writers

Over the last three years members of the WAFFLE group (Writing andFeedback For Language Educators) have met regularly to work togetherto improve how they teach writing: exchanging ideas, sharing materials,reviewing data and talking extensively about lessons and students. Anatural development was to carry out action research together. The fivecase studies described in this paper show how each teacher-researcherexamined the issue of involving students in feeding back their ideas aboutwriting and their ways of writing into class planning and procedures.Although important differences in setting make each exploration unique,the five case studies all resonate with results generalizable to otherteachers’ practice. While collaboration, with students and each other, wasdifficult for these teacher-researchers to achieve fully, much was learntthrough the undertaking. This paper is thus testament to the promise andpotential of pursuing collaborative action research with both learners andcolleagues.

IntroductionAction research involves not only identifying and investigating problemsin teaching, but may also include engaging learners as equal partners inthe inquiry process. This can be particularly helpful for writing classes

where the development of L2 writingcompetence looks beyond the

written word to broaderquestions. Such issues include

learners’ metacognition,composing processes and

competence, writingconfidence, writingstrategies, and readerresponses. The fivecase studiesdescribed belowshow how onegroup of teachershas attempted to

collaborate bothwith each other and

with their learners toaddress these

questions.Over the last three

years, as members of theWAFFLE group (Writing and

Feedback For LanguageEducators), we have regularly met

in each other’s homes and offices towork together to improve the way we teach writing:

exchanging ideas, sharing materials, reviewing data and talkingextensively about lessons and students. A natural development of thistalk was for us to move on to research together common issues inteaching writing. Our first attempt involved examining how teachers and


Ashwell, et al: Collaborative Action Research with L2 Writers

learners could best respond to writing (Ashwell, Barfield, Cowie, Nix & Zemach, 2000). Out of thisinitial cycle of collaboration a second issue emerged: How to involve the students themselves more fullyin feeding back their ideas about writing and their ways of writing into class planning and procedures.

Although each teacher-researcher in the group teaches similarly aged students and has examined asimilar issue in this second cycle, important differences in setting make each case study unique. However,we have found that each of our inquiries resonates for our different practices. We have also discoveredmuch from attempting to work more closely with our own students and with each other. We thus believethat many benefits can accrue for teachers by meeting together, exploring their different practices and byfinding further ways to research together.

Two ‘loopback’ activitiesTim Ashwell

Teaching and action research setting

A writing class at a junior college in Tokyo, which met twice a week from September 2000 to January2001. Most of the 21 female students are not particularly academically oriented. Last year I focussed onthe idea generation stage of the writing process by looking at whether students preferred student orteacher-provided source materials for essays; whether they preferred those materials to be in English or inJapanese; and, whether they preferred to write notes on those source materials in English or Japanese. Iintegrated what I learned from that action research into my present writing class, but decided to changethe focus of inquiry in this year’s class towards how to feed students’ reflections on their own writingback into the on-going learning process. My aim was to see how using these reflections could helpstudents overcome difficulties which they faced in writing in a foreign language.

This year’s action research (AR)

Since the class began eleven weeks ago, I have tried two activities to try to make use of studentreflections on writing to ‘loopback’ into the learning process. The first initially involved asking studentsto write in Japanese about the production of the first draft of the first assignment (a 500-word essay) onthe day that the essay was due.

Many of the students had been up all night finishing the first draft, so their reflections wererevealing and influenced me in several ways. First, they made me understand the time and effort involvedin producing an essay of this length: This impressed, moved and humbled me! Second, their feedbackmade me realise that most students had no notion of how long it would take to produce a 500-word piecein English. From this, I began to realise that the writing process does not only consist of cognitivedimensions; it also involves practicalities like planning one’s time and organising one’s studyenvironment, questions which might be automatically addressed by more academically-minded students.

To feed these ideas back into the learning process, I made copies of some reflections that I had beengiven permission to use and spread these around the classroom in a following lesson. I asked students tomove around and read these pieces and to identify common problems. Students did this happily enough,but when I asked them to discuss solutions to these problems in groups, we hit a brick wall. They did notwant to engage in this activity at all. After the class I felt disappointed and tried to think of possiblereasons for the students’ lack of interest. I felt that one missing ingredient was ‘individual accountability.’I felt that I needed to be able to hold individuals to account so that I could ask them what action they weregoing to take in the future to alleviate a problem and improve their performance.

The second activity sprang from the first. The student reflections from the first activity had mademe interested in where they wrote and whether they wanted to change this environment. Initially, I askedstudents in class to answer a seven-point questionnaire which required them to describe their writingenvironment and then to decide if they needed to change it. When students completed the questionnaire, Ihad them show me their answers so that I could see who had chosen to commit to change and their plan ofaction. Two students had written that they would buy desks; one that she would tidy her room; and onethat she would turn the TV off next time she wrote an essay and would video-record the programmes that



she was missing.As a next step, I decided that when students were about to start writing the first draft of their second

assignment I would publicly ask those who had committed to change what they had done. If handledsensitively, I thought this would be a way of cajoling some of those who had not committed to changeinto reappraisal. Two weeks later I read out the commitments to the whole class and asked the studentsconcerned if they had taken any action. To my utter amazement, the two who had said they would buydesks had bought them; what’s more, the student who had said she would tidy her room had done it! I wasecstatic and felt that this activity had been completely worthwhile!

Reflections on the action research

There are three reasons I am happier with the AR I am doing this year than last year. First, this year’s ARfeels much more organic than imposed. Certainly this year it is still me who is asking the questions, but Ido not feel that I am imposing some grand research design on myself and the students that gets in the wayof what we are doing: The AR is growing as we go along. Last year’s AR seems, on reflection, to havebeen very product-oriented: I needed data and numbers to crunch for a presentation. Next, this year I feelthat the AR is being done more for the benefit of the people in our classroom than for others. Finally, I ambeginning to appreciate the strength of working collaboratively with other teachers on AR. Thediscussions that we have in the WAFFLE group are helping me towards a more satisfying personal ARundertaking.

Some students are more equal than others?Andy Barfield


Forty or more students in a class, meeting once a week for 75 minutes, for three terms of 9-10 weeks: Afamiliar enough situation for university teaching in Japan. By the end of the year, my first-year studentscome to write up their own research in an appropriately sourced and referenced problem-solution termpaper of 750 words. Helping my students learn to do this by managing to plan, review, revise, respondand write interdependently is both the focus of the class and my action research.

My previous action research had centred on peer reader responses (Ashwell, Barfield, Cowie, Nix,and Zemach, 2000). In those cycles, I worked from whole-class surveys towards analysis of selectedsamplings of student reader responses and writing. In that cycle, I looked for examples of success in theuptake of responses by readers into the later plans made by writers. Later, I interviewed small groups ofstudents about how they managed the total writing process. From the interviews, my sample students’comments suggested to me that it is largely in the pre-writing/planning stages between reading andwriting that writers anchor their success for a particular writing task.

Feeding action research back into teaching

The recorded interviews provided me with example conversations and decision-making that I later usedas ‘near peer role models’ (Murphey, 1996) for the initial phase of this year’s writing classes. I believedthat this would give all my new writing students the chance to make, much earlier on, the link betweenreading, note-taking, planning and revising. I also decided to write together with my students in the firstterm in order to model for them a writer’s thinking about appropriate organisation for a text. The actionresearch, in other words, led me to model more closely the review/planning/thinking that a writer needs todo in order to develop their writing.

Two example review-plans from students in the first term may illustrate the specific writing goalsthat this changed classroom sequence helped writers identify. The first example shows a writer in theprocess of revising their summary of Recycling (Border, 1996). The second example shows a writer re-thinking writing problems for the organisation of their discussion of their own ideas and sources aboutrecycling.



Example 1I should write using examples more. And I need to write the points more clearly. Ididn’t write about the final part of the book because I felt the part of this book is toodetail. So I think I’ll write about this part briefly. And as for the teacher’s first draft,I didn’t show this summary is another’s idea. So I want to use “The author statesthat” etc next time.

Example 2I need to put the most impressive example first because it directs the reader’s attentionto my discussion with interest. So, I need to decide which example I show the firstplace. I need to decide how many example I should put in my discussion. I thinkthree or four examples are the best. Conclusion is of primary importance in mydiscussion. How do I relate Border’s opinion and my opinion? Secondary is theopening. How do I start my discussion?

Both examples show the writers grappling with higher-level questions of genre and organization inappropriately ordering and integrating various writing sub-goals.

Extending previous action research

In the second term, I continued this emphasis on review-planning as students undertook writing aproblem-solution paper on an environmental problem of their own choice. This time, I recycled asmodels for the class detailed examples of student thinking about review-planning in a number of differentstages, and then surveyed the whole class as to how useful they had found each stage (see Appendix 1).

Looking at these results, I was puzzled by three points in particular: the relatively weak perceptionof planning for a third of the group (Stage 3); the difference between noticing problems (negative) anddeciding on actions to solve those problems (positive) (Stage 4); the very weak perceived usefulness offace-to-face peer reader responses (Stage 6). At the same time, I found confirmations of my ownintuitions in that students were positive about the usefulness of reading Japanese sources initially to buildup their background knowledge (Stage 1); they perceived positively the usefulness of review-planningtheir sources before planning their writing (Stage 2); they found written peer responses and my ownwritten comments useful (Stage 6).

To make better sense of the results, I created two sub-groups: 10 writers who I regarded assuccessfully completing the review-planning and 10 writers who I considered still found such review-planning difficult. The interesting points for me here are that the slower-but-successfully-completingstudents see writing as the main problem, and tend not to see planning as difficult,

Table 1 Looking at the results in terms of two sub-groups

Which stage has been the Whole class Successfully Successfully-but-slowermost difficult for you? (N=37) completing -completing students (n=10)

students (n=10)

Stage 1 Gathering information 21.6% 30% 10%Stage 2 Reviewing your sources 2.7% - 10%Stage 3 Planning your writing 21.6% 20% 10%Stage 4 Noticing writing problems 8.1% 10% -Stage 5 Writing 35.1% 30% 60%Stage 6 Responding 10.8% 10% 10%

whereas the successfully-completing students spread their difficulties over more stages. However, it wasdifficult for me to make more sense of the results without asking my students for their interpretations. So,



rather than simply collect in the results and make my own decisions, I asked the students for theircomments on the results, and then fed their comments back to the class for discussion at the start of thethird term: A group-based review plan, moving towards students mapping out areas of individual concernfor them in managing their writing.

Reflection-conclusion

Conducting action research with a large class and trying to make sense of the results for all studentsequally is not easy. Initially I moved from whole class surveys to more specific examples of success inpeer reader responses, interviews with ‘successful writers’ and using the review-plans of successfulstudents as models for the class. By involving the whole class in the process and asking for theirfeedback, my focus has been shifted towards reconsidering questions of planning and near peer rolemodels for students who need a different kind of support in planning and writing. One key effect then isto make me foster a more autonomous writing environment by providing a much wider range of writing,planning and responding tasks for students to choose from.

Recycling the lessons of a case study of two good EFL writers intothe teaching of writingNeil Cowie


Most of the students in my weekly writing class at a Japanese university are around 20 years old, but forthe last two and a half years I have been privileged to have a number of older ‘auditor’ students attend myclasses. These students have added an extra dimension to the classes with their enthusiasm andcommitment, and, in all class activities, have acted as terrific role models for their peers. As well as theirmotivating classroom behaviour, these students also produced very interesting and stimulating writingassignments. I worked with two of these auditing students to study their writing strategies and, as a result,I both changed some of my teaching methods and used the students as examples of ‘near peer rolemodels’ (Murphey, 1996) to help and encourage my current class.

Features of good EFL writers

After the two students, Hana and Haruko, completed my writing course, I collected several different kindsof data with them including transcribed interviews and all their written work over the year’s course. Weidentified a number of their common writing experiences and strategies which made me aware of changesthat I can make to improve my teaching, for example:

• Show students that writing takes a lot of time, both for thinking and reflecting aswell as actual writing.

• Encourage students to write reflective memos when they turn in their reportsfocusing on difficulties, issues, or questions that they found during the writingprocess.

• Give less confident students models of writing, particularly early on in a course.• Encourage students to rewrite more initial drafts but not to expect another.draft

after giving final comments.• Encourage peer discussion in lessons but not worry too much if a lot of Japanese is

used because discussion is primarily to encourage ideas not improve speakingability.

• Encourage students to keep a journal or diary.• Show students ways in which writing can be a tool for developing thinking.• Encourage students to seek help for their writing outside the classroom.



Murphey describes ‘near peer role models’ as “peers who are close to our social, professional, and/or age level who for some reason we may respect and admire” (Murphey, 1996, p.21). As well asinfluencing my own teaching, I also wanted to present Hana and Haruko as near peer role models toinfluence current students. I have done this through both the product and process of writing: for example,by using extracts from reports as examples of good novice writing, and by using Hana and Haruko’sstrategies as a stepping stone for discussion about how to write. In the next section is a brief descriptionof one classroom activity I have used.

From the data about the ways in which Hana and Haruko approach writing I extracted 11 key ideasto use as a worksheet. My current students discussed these features in class, wrote about them forhomework, and eventually identified three of them that were felt to be the most useful for improving theirwriting: (a) have a positive attitude to writing and write about issues that are important to you; (b) talk toothers to find out ideas; (c) use an English-English dictionary for checking and finding new language. Ifelt that only the third, dictionary use, was something I did not already address in class, so I decided thatthis was one area I really needed to help students with.

Two further areas that this activity helped me to identify were issues of planning and the use oftranslation in writing. The materials which I subsequently used in class to look at these three issues allcome from the data I have collected from Hana and Haruko, thereby taking forward the process offeeding into lessons examples of the features of good writers and writing taken from near peer rolemodels.


By working closely with two students I have been able to get some real insights into how good, but notnecessarily expert, student writers actually go about writing. I have been able to use this information tochange some of the ways in which I teach; I have also used these two students as models of good writersso that my current students may be inspired to emulate their positive approach.

Learning from the learners: Action research for self-developmentAlan Milne


This research project was carried out with the help and permission of two first-year undergraduate classesat the University of Tsukuba in the academic year 1998/99. Both classes had around 40 students with lowto mid-intermediate English skills. The goals for the year were to teach the following fundamentals ofacademic writing:

Term 1: Reinforce the basics in the writing process (paragraph construction, thesisstatement, signal/transition words)

Term 2: Use of quotations/paraphrasing, collecting information, organising an essay

Term 3: Writing a simple essay in academic style (having an opinion and supportingit with evidence and using more formal language)

The focus of my action research project was basically to find out from the students whether myteaching strategies were helping or hindering their learning, and if there were any actions that I could taketo improve my methodology and planning. (See Table 3 below for how the basic class interaction wasinitially organized.)



Table 2 Original class patterning of interaction

Term 1: Pair work:

v Brainstorming. Reader response/Peer review.

Term 2: Group work:

v Collecting information from sources to produce a group presentation.v Using the information gathered to write an individual essay.

Term 3: Individual work:

v Brainstorming/Mind mapping.v Write on a specific theme incorporating information from handouts.v Write an academic style report.

Research goals and results

I wanted to identify some specific strengths and weaknesses in both my students’ writing and my ownteaching. I gave the students a questionnaire based on what I had been doing in class over the first twoterms. Students were required to choose one answer for each question on a 3-point scale e.g., I used theteacher’s handouts, Giving a presentation helped me focus my ideas, Getting a critical reader responsewas useful for me, and I can paraphrase.

In order to involve my students in looking at the analysis of the questionnaire, I presented to them amodel first draft discussing the results. I then asked the students to give their own ‘reader responses’ tomy interpretation of the results. In this way, I hoped both to include the students in the research processand to have some extra ‘triangulation’ data to help understand the results better. I categorized theresponses to the original questionnaire statements into the following three groups, where the first groupobtained the highest rating, and the third the lowest:

1. Use of handouts2. Presentation/group work3. Reader response

The low rating for reader response came as a surprise to me as I had expected peer review to beseen as the most useful for writer autonomy. However, many of the student comments revealed thatstudents were not always sure of what to look for when reading other students’ essays, which may explainwhy students rated reader response so low. One conclusion that might be drawn is that introducing readerresponse writing should be left until students are much more aware of what to look for in an essay; and,that early teaching strategies should be focused on model essays from other students and academicreports.

Feeding the action research back into my teaching

This piece of action research enabled me to reorganise my teaching strategies in consideration of students’own perceptions and expectations of what I do in class. This academic year I now use the followingpattern and take the students through a set of clearer stages in their learning cycle, as summarised below:

Stage 1: ModelingEither from a published source or essays from students in a different writing class.


Stage 2: Group workBrainstorm on a new topic based on the model pattern and write an introductoryparagraph to include a topic sentence and thesis statement. Sequence information toinclude in a body to complement the model introductory paragraph.

Stage 3: Individual workBased on the ideas and patterns gleaned from the model and group activities, writean individual introductory paragraph based on the same criteria but with a differenttheme.Complete an essay with a model introductory paragraph already provided.

Stage 4: Peer reviewIntended to be introduced at a later point to complete a four-stage cycle of learning.Compared to my teaching strategies from last year I feel I now have a much greatersense of what students need in the present learning context and am planning to makestructured student feedback a regular feature of my classes.

From research to negotiation: Becoming collaborative in actionresearch on peer reader responseMike Nix


This research was conducted in the Law Faculty at Chuo University with an academic writing class of 12first-year students, most of whom had previously lived abroad and were already quite competent Englishwriters. In a previous action research project, I had investigated the effect of using ‘near peer writingmodels’ (Murphey, 1996) on the quality of students peer reader response (PRR). I had controlled theresearch cycle to position the students as research subjects, using a questionnaire to get feedback fromthem, and analysing that and their peer reader response techniques by myself.

In the current project, I began with the question, ‘What do good peer responders do?’ Rather thanjust gathering data from the students, I tried to develop the research as a process of becomingcollaborative that would engage students in discussion of this question, help them to use these insights tomake their own evaluations, and so help the students to make more informed and self-aware decisionsabout how to improve their own response strategies.

Becoming collaborative

I initially framed the issue of ‘good peer response’ in terms of the usefulness of different types ofresponse (such as praise, question or suggestion, general or specific) and the focus of response (content,structure, vocabulary, grammar and spelling, or presentation). It quickly became apparent, however, thatthe discussion of ‘good response’ had to be widened to include issues which I had excluded, namelyissues about the process of response that I had imposed on the students (English or Japanese, writing ororal) and the relationships between writer and peer reader constructed in this process.

This produced an additional research question, ‘Which processes and relationships promote goodpeer reader response?’ and led to a reformulation of the research cycle as the negotiation, not just theinvestigation, of the way PRR was done in class. In other words, the process of becoming collaborativenot only introduced new issues and widened the scope of the research, it also began to critique mydecisions as researcher about how to conduct research and as teacher about how to manage the class.Research processes

The research, which was conducted halfway through the course at the end of the second writingassignment and during the third cycle, developed in the following stages:



1. Observation of the peer response processesI observed two pairs of students giving PRR with the intention of finding out whattypes of response they gave. More significantly, though, this showed that they adaptedthe response process I had imposed on them (that responses be written and given inEnglish), and that this seemed to produce a more collaborative reader-writerrelationship and more effective responses. For example, students tended to useJapanese to more precisely characterise problems and to clarify suggestions.

2. Peer reader response surveyThe students completed a questionnaire that asked for their views about the overallvalue of PRR, the most useful types of response and, drawing on the observations,the most helpful ways of doing PRR (see Appendix 2). The results of the surveywere then used as the basis of a discussion in class.

3. Peer reader response analysisStudents were given an analysis of their peer reader responses, broken down by typeof response, for the first two assignments to help them become more aware of theirpersonal PRR strategies (see Appendix 2). These were discussed in groups.

4. Self-evaluation and goal settingEach student was asked to do three things: to list what they considered to be the fivemost useful types of response for a writer to receive (for example, ‘specific suggestionsabout structure’), to summarise their response strategies to date by creating a personalresponse profile, and, to reconcile these in a set of goals for becoming a betterresponder (see Appendix 3).

5. Negotiating the response processesA new response process was negotiated in class using questions that had emergedduring the research process to stimulate discussion. These are summarised in Table4 below.

Table 3 Summary of questions for negotiating a new response process

• English, Japanese, or both?• Orally, in writing, or both?• Who should decide what kinds of comments are needed, the reader, the writer,

or both?• Who should record the responses, the reader, the writer, or both?

How many people should give responses to one writer?Is it useful to distinguish between and require:

• praise/questions/suggestions?• general/specific?• content/structure/language /presentation?

Are all these different types of response necessary?Are any other kinds of response necessary?

• One process for all students?• Students develop their own individual processes?• One core process with room for adjustment?



Outcomes

As the research cycle developed, a broad consensus emerged amongst students on the most useful typesof response that favoured suggestions over praise, specific over general responses, and a focus on contentand structure over the ‘surface concerns’ of grammar and spelling. Individual students identified goals forimproving their PRR strategies and were able to achieve these, to varying degrees, in subsequentresponses.

The negotiation produced a new basic response process with room for adaptation by individualresponse groups. I would also characterise this as a negotiation of a new set of relationships betweenwriter and reader. The changes in process and relationships are summarised in Table 5 below.

Table 4 Summary of changes to the response process

Initial response process (imposed by teacher)v Monolithic - one process imposed on all studentsv Monolingual - English onlyv Largely written - writing done by readerv Reader led - reader identifies problems, decides what to comment on and howv to respondv Largely monologic - reader gives responses & writer receives themv Non-negotiated - writer accepts or rejects responses

New response process (negotiated with students)v Flexible - students adapt the process to their groupv Bilingual - English plus Japanese if requiredv Written and oral - writing done by reader and/or writer as judged appropriatev Collaborative - writers and readers agree focus of response and types of responsev Dialogic - writers and readers discuss problems and responses throughout the processv Negotiated - writers and readers seek to reach agreement about problems and how to revise

them

The students also decided responses on presentation had no value and replaced these with acategory of general impressions in which they could respond more affectively to the arguments andinterest of the writing.


Although the research sought to develop collaboration, the students were not completely equal partners inthe process. New issues emerged from their discussions but they were integrated into the research processbecause I found them interesting. The students had a quite sophisticated metacognitive understanding ofthe processes and characteristics of academic writing but it was me who framed questions and devisedresearch techniques. One student remarked that she only saw the negotiation process in the terms I didafter I had given my characterisation of it. Nevertheless, the project suggests some possibilities forresearch that tries to become collaborative by engaging students in the research process, providing a spacefor their autonomous reflection on the results, and moving towards negotiated decision-making on thebasis of the research.

ConclusionOne of the shared themes in our action research has been the effort to engage our learners as equalpartners in the inquiry process. This remains an appealing ideal to strive for, given our collective interestin fostering greater learner autonomy in our different writing classes. Although achieving such equalityperfectly remains elusive, the journey of exploration towards that ideal has pushed each of us to re-



consider and re-configure how our learners can best learn, and how we can best help them in theirlearning.

Furthermore, in critically reflecting on how and why we may not have reached that ideal, we haveidentified a number of emerging tensions in collaborative learner-teacher action research that may beuseful for wider discussion. These concern the following bipolar scales:

Who conducts the action research?Participatory……………………………………...Independent

How is the action research organised?Process………..…………………..………………...…ProductOrganic…….………………..………....Imposed / pre-plannedExplicit………..…………………..…………………. .ImplicitCyclical……….…………………..……………………..LinearPattern………..…………………..………………...……..PointParticularised………..…………………………….GeneralisedMultiple………..…………………..………………..…….Solo

Who benefits from the action research?Classroom community…………..……Professional communityPeer….………..…………………..……………………Teacher

What is the intended audience for the action research?Here and now………..…………………..………...Future otherFeedback……….…………………..……...……………Publish

We have noticed in our development as action researchers that the WAFFLE group started itsdiscussions and actions to the right-hand end of each scale. Over time, through practice, with criticismand collaboration, we have each begun to move more towards the left-hand side of each continuum. Thejourney of exploration, in other words, has moved more towards the collaborative with each successivetry: In a sense, then, continuing the journey helps fosters both greater learner and teacher autonomywithin a small community of shared exploratory practice.

References

Border, R. (1996). Recycling (Oxford Factfiles). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ashwell, T. Barfield, A., Cowie, N., Nix, M., & Zemach, D. (2000). Responding to writing: Learningfrom action research. In Brooks, D., Long, R., and Robbins, J. (Eds), Teacher Belief and TeacherAction: Connecting Research and the Classroom (Proceedings of the 25th JALT International Confer-ence on Language Teaching/Learning), pp. 8-21. Tokyo: The Japan Association for Language Teach-ing.

Murphey, T. (1996). Near peer role models. Teacher Talking to Teacher, 4(3), 21-22. Tokyo: Newsletterof the JALT Teacher Education Special Interest Group.



Appendix 1

Bio-Resources Writing Class Questionnaire Results (N=37) (* = -1 response)

Not at all A little Quite Veryuseful useful useful useful

Stage 1 Gathering informationv Finding suitable sources 2.7 16.2 35.1 45.9v Reading those sources - 5.4 35.1 60.4v Making notes and mindmapping - 18.9 37.8 43.2

key points

Stage 2 Reviewing your sourcesv Writing about what you have 2.7 13.5 45.9 37.8

learnt so far, and what else youneed to learn

v Collecting further useful 2.7 21.6 40.5 35.1information

Stage 3 Planning your writingv Making a narrowed down focus - 32.4 40.5 27

for your paperv Writing an action plan for your - 27 29.7 43.2

first draft

Stage 4 Noticing writing problemsv Noticing three problems before 8.1 54 24.3 13.5

you write your first draftv Deciding on actions to take to 5.4 27 54 13.5

solve those problems

Stage 5 Writingv Writing your first draft 2.7 8.1 40.5 48.6v Reviewing problems in your - 5.4 27 68.5

first draftv Planning changes to your - 13.5 27 60.4

first draft

Stage 6 Respondingv Getting written reader responses 2.7 16.2 37.8 40.5

from other student(s) *v Getting face-to-face comments 2.7 51.3 45.9 24.3

from other student(s) *v Getting written comments in - 5.4 27 68.5

your notebook from the teacherv Getting face-to-face comments - 8.1 45.9 43.2

from the teacher *



Appendix 2

The usefulness of peer reader response: Summary of survey questions and average class scores

The writing process

1 = Not useful 2 = A little useful 3 = Don’t know 4 = Quite useful 5 = Useful

A. Do you think peer reader response is a useful part of the writing process? Score: 4.5B. Do you think peer reader response is useful for helping you to write bettersecond drafts of your compositions? Score: 4.5

C. Do you think peer reader response is a useful for helping you tobecome a better writer? Score: 3.8

The peer response process

A. Do you think peer reader response is best done in: i. English: 3ii. Japanese: 1iii. A mixture of both: 6iv. Don’t know: 1

B. Do you think peer reader response is best given: i. In writing: 4ii. Orally: 1iii. A mixture of both: 7iv. Don’t know: 0

C. Which do you think is the best number of people to receivepeer reader response from: i. One person: 1

ii. Two people: 6iii. Three people: 1iv. Don’t know: 3

Receiving peer reader responses

As a writer, how useful is it to receive the following kinds of responses from a reader?1 = Not useful 2 = A little useful 3 = Don’t know 4 = Quite useful 5 = Useful

A. i. Praise Score: 3.2ii. Questions Score: 4.0iii. Suggestions Score: 4.2

B. i. General responses Score: 3.7ii. Specific responses Score: 4.3

C. i. Responses on content Score: 4.1ii. Responses on structure Score: 3.9iii. Responses on language:style and vocabulary Score: 3.9iv. Responses on language:grammar and spelling Score: 3.9v. Responses on presentation Score: 3.1



Appendix 3:

Sample Peer Reader Response Analysis

Type of response Specific General Total

• Praise 3 2 5

• Questions 5 5

• Suggestions 5 5

• Other 3

Totals 13 2 15

Category of response Specific General Total

• Content 10 10

• Structure 1 1

• Language:

- Vocabulary 1 1

& style

- Grammar 2 2

& spelling

• Presentation 1 1

Totals 13 2 15



Appendix 4Sample Self-evaluation and Goal Setting

1. Most useful kinds of responsePlease list what you think are five useful kinds of response with 1. as the most useful. E.g. general praiseabout grammar and spelling; specific questions about structure, etc.

1. Specific suggestions about content2. General suggestions about structure3. Specific suggestions about structure4. Specific questions about content5. Specific suggestions on language

2. My response profile so farPlease write a short profile that summarises the kinds of responses you have given so far. Say what yougive/ask too much of/too little of/the right amount of/enough of/not enough of/etc. Try to write aboutthree or four sentences.

• I think specific response is useful, so I gave great amount of specific responses(specific general = 13:2)

• I gave specific suggestions the most• I gave too much questions and praise about content

3. Becoming a better peer reader responderPlease say what you think you need to do to give better responses to writers. Write about what you needto do more of/do less of/continue doing the same amount of/etc. Try to write about three of foursentences.

• I should give more response about structure• I think general responses always need the reason (or in addition that, need specific

one), I continue to give specific one• I think suggestions help writer most, so I continue to give suggestions



An academic skills course for college students at the upper intermediatelevel of English was investigated as an action research project. The studyconsisted of outlining the problem, gathering information, proposingchanges, implementing them, collecting data, drawing conclusions anddefining new research questions. There were 4.5 hours of listening andnote-taking instruction in two teachers’ classes; 3.5 hours in a thirdteacher’s class. Students were taught vocabulary, strategies to activatestudents’ prediction skills, training in note-taking techniques and inidentifying lecture structure and practice in dictation. Pre-test and post-test measures were a listening-and-note-taking test on a 20-minute lecture.As well, in each class, students completed a self-reflection form to assesswhat they had learned. The results were that all three classes showed asignificant gain in students’ scores. Also, their comments indicated abetter understanding of lectures and more confidence in their listeningabilities.

Action research 計画の対象としたのは、中上級レベルの学部学生が選択するアカデミックスキルコースである。このリサーチプロジェクトの主な内容は、課題の概略を明確にすること、情報を収集すること、そして代案を提示し、それを学生に課題として課し、さらにデータを取り、その結果から新たな研究上の課題を明らかにすることである。

　コースの構成は、教師２名がリスニングとノートテイキング指導のクラスを4 時間半分受け持ち、もう一人の教師

が３時間半分のクラスを受け持つ、という形になっている。コースを通して学生は、語彙お

よび予測する能力を活性化するための方略を学び、ノートテイキングの技術・講義

内容の構成を見極めるための訓練を受け、ディクテーションの練習をす

る。伸展度を測るため、2 0 分の講義を聴きながらリスニングとノートテイキングを行うというテストが、コースの初めと終わりに課せられる。同時に、学生は授業ごとに、何を勉強したか自己査定するために自己評価表に記入しなくてはならない。この中の学生のコメントは、より講義を理解する力がつい

たこと、リスニング力により自信がついたことを示している。

Introduction

Most action research has focusedon teacher training and education

at the primary and secondary levels.However, there is a growing interest in

its application to EFL instruction (Crookes,1993). In general, action research is done

through a systematic observation of teaching practice,followed by analysis in order to determine future action. The scale

can vary from a single teacher’s classroom to large, collaborative effortsamong groups of teachers. Burns (1999) suggests a primary role for actionresearch in professional development, curricular innovation, and

Gregory Strong,Jennifer Whittle,

Vivian Cohen,Simon Himbury,

and RichardKringle

Aoyama Gakuin University

ActionResearch

in anAcademic Skills

Course


educational research. It often emerges from classroom issues and has a practical focus in addressing theseproblems and improving teaching practice. In general, action research consists of a recursive cycle: (1)theproblem is outlined, (2)information is gathered, (3)changes are proposed, (4)changes are implemented,(5)data is collected, (6)conclusions are drawn, and the problem is further refined for subsequent study(Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988; Burns, 1999).

Academic skills course developmentThe Academic Skills course described in the following action research project originated in a needsanalysis by a university English department. A curriculum review committee suggested that studentsneeded more work on their listening and note-taking skills. An examination of the research literature onEnglish for Academic Purposes revealed that this was a common problem for university students listeningto lectures in a second language (Oxford, 1993; Powers, 1995). Ferris and Taag (1996) summarize theirsurvey of 234 professors at 4 different universities by recommending that students of English of a secondlanguage practice listen to real lectures by a variety of speakers. Chaudron et al. (1995) propose that goodnote-taking aids the memory, increases students’ attention, and assist them in reviewing andreconstructing lecture material.

A new semester-length EAP listening and note-taking course was outlined for sophomore studentsin the two-year intensive English program in the English department. The students in the program were atthe upper intermediate level of ability. In addition to Academic Skills, each week they took two weekly90-minute periods of instruction in speaking, listening, reading, and writing by native speakers and anadditional two 90-minute periods of writing and listening, respectively.

Goals for the new Academic Skills course were developed that included teaching the listeningsubskills of finding key words, main ideas, listening for discourse markers, taking dictation and makingsentence-level predictions as well as showing students how to summarize and paraphrase lectures andproviding them with an introduction to content within the subject areas of the department. A series of 20-minute videotaped lectures on aspects of British and American Literature, Linguistics, andCommunications was produced, painstakingly transcribed, and then a unit of questions and activitiesdeveloped for each videotape.

EAP listening activitiesThe activities in the Academic Skills course were drawn from examples in the literature on teachinglistening (Brown & Yule, 1983; Ur, 1984; Anderson & Lynch, 1988). Units of study in the course werecomprised of pre-listening activities and activities during and after listening. The former consisted ofvocabulary teaching, content area readings and discussions to activate the students’ backgroundknowledge. As well, pre-listening work introduced strategy training to familiarize non-native speakerswith the predicting, guessing and inferring that native speakers often use to make sense of lectures(Strodt-Lopez, 1991).

While listening, students worked on their vocabulary through listening for clozed words and utilizedcontexts to predict the meaning of unknown words as well as matching and other recognition exercises.For note taking, there were suggestions for abbreviations and the use of symbols. Teachers modeled thesetechniques in class and had students try them. As well, there was practice in note-taking, in learning howto identify the overall lecture structure and to determine its salient features such as discourse markers(Bame, 1995). Other activities during listening included information gap assignments, comprehensionquestions, and exercises to help students disentangle the components of English spoken at natural speed(Ur, 1984) and sensitize them to the features of spontaneous English speech (Brown & Yule, 1983). Gridsand tables were used to focus student attention upon the basic content of a listening passage and to recordthe information succinctly. These were followed by writing and small group discussion activities.Additional practice in developing comprehension skills required students to summarize the main points ofa passage (Ur, Ibid).

Each unit of study was organized sequentially by degree of difficulty. Researchers note thateffective training of listening skills requires a graded program of listening activities that encourages

Strong et.al.: Action Research in Developing Academic Skills


students by allowing them to achieve success on less complex tasks so the activities in each unitprogressed in this manner (Anderson & Lynch, 1988). The literature contends that grading needs to takeinto account not only the language and content, but also the learners’ perceptions of difficulty (Lee,1977). For this reason, the listening activities were tested with other groups of students of similar abilitiesbefore the activities were incorporated into the course. A significant number of tasks in each unit weredesigned to be conducted in pairs or small groups so that students could assist one another’s languagelearning. This approach also encouraged learners to approach other students first, rather than relyingsolely on the teacher. It also promotes active and successful listening habits by encouraging students toask questions when their communication fails (Lynch, 1994).

The Action Research Project

A pre-semester orientation was organized for the teachers of the new Academic Skills course.Progress meetings were held during the semester. Discussions with teachers led to the development of anintroductory listening and note-taking module to introduce the skills to be taught in the course. At the endof the course, data was collected from an anonymous student questionnaire as to their attitudes toward thecourse and to classroom activities. The results of this survey were later used to determine the relativedifficulty of the videos and to sequence them appropriately.

After the course had finished, the teachers asked the course developers to develop a midterm andfinal test that could be used to determine a course mark for students in addition to teacher assessments ofstudents in class and their completion of homework assignments. Each of the two tests consisted of a 20-minute lecture on the same subject and by the same lecturer. The questions on the tests required namesand dates and short answer definitions as well as a sentence summarizing part of the lecture. Thequestions were the same as those asked during activities in the course and were representative of thosedescribed in the literature. They were intended as a direct test of student proficiency in note-taking duringa lecture.

To monitor the development of the course, an action-research agenda was initiated with the 2 coursedevelopers and 3 of the 12 teachers in the course. The questions posed in the action research were (a) dostudents’ listening and note-taking abilities improve after taking the course? (b) do students acquiregreater confidence in listening to academic lectures?

The midterm and final tests for the course were used as a pre-test and a post-test to measure whetheror not students listening and note-taking abilities improved as a result of taking the course. The tests weredesigned as a direct measure of student ability to understand a lecture and to take notes and weretherefore similar to the activities that took place in the class. Therefore, the researchers felt that theywould have greater content validity than indirect measures of listening comprehension such as thelistening comprehension tests on the TOEFL and TOEIC. In addition, to obtain data for the secondresearch question, about student confidence after taking the course, an anonymous student self-reflectionform was utilized that asked open-ended questions such as “What did you do in this class? What are youlearning in this class? What is the best part of the class? What is the worst part of the class?” and includeda 5-point self-assessment scale about the quality and quantity of the student’s work.

One course developer piloted the revised course, the introductory lesson, the testing instruments andthe student response form in the spring semester. A review of student scores on the pre-test and post-testlistening tests indicated that the two forms were of different degrees of difficulty. Changes were made tothe tests and to the research plan for the fall semester trials.

Classroom DataDuring the fall semester, each of the three teachers administered the pre-test, taught several classes, thengave the post-test. There were four and a half hours of instruction in two teachers’ classes, group 2 of 31students, and group 3 of 26 students. Three and a half hours of instruction were given to one teacher’sclass (group 1) consisting of 28 students. The teachers administered the tests in three different conditions:(group 1) playing the entire lecture only once and without any pauses, (group 2)playing the lecture twicewithout any pauses, (group 3)playing the lecture twice, but stopping it at different points to allow the



students to focus on one section at a time. In addition, each teacher gave the students in class 10 minutesat the end of the period to complete the self-reflection form. Then the teacher collected it.

ResultsThe results were tabulated and statistics generated using Statview (1999) to calculate the pre-test andpost-test mean scores for the students in each class and a repeated measures ANOVA to calculate theeffect of group on the results. For the most part, the data were normally distributed. Regardless of thetesting condition and the short periods of instruction, all 3 classes showed a significant gain in studentscores at the .0001 level of significance (See Appendix). Group 1 had a pretest mean score of 12.214 witha kurtosis of -1.14 and a post-test score of 16. The pretest mean score was 19.58 for Group 2 and the post-test mean score was 23.36 with a skewness of 1.62 and a kurtosis of -2.25. Group 3 had a pretest meanscore of 12.89 and a post-test mean score of 16.58 and a kurtosis of 2.02.

Next, the 3 teachers reviewed the student comments on the self-reflection forms for general trends.These suggested that students felt more confident about their listening and note-taking abilities. Oneteacher reported that the students in his class commented that they could set themselves achievableobjectives in improving their skills, that they also learned vocabulary and content knowledge from thevideos and that they could use abbreviations and make summaries. Their opinions on the best point of theclass included listening to native speakers using English, and discussing their notes with their partners inclass. The students in all three classes also reported on the usefulness of the course in preparing them forfuture content lectures or seminars in English. Some of the worst points of the class, according to studentswere that they had so much to do and that the course started too early in the morning.

Quantitative education research seeks to establish relationships between variables in order todetermine causes and their effects. The same standards cannot as easily be applied to action researchstudies. Anderson et al. (1994) suggests that the criteria for validity in action research may be the valueand utility of the knowledge gained in respect to a specific educational context. Furthermore, the conceptof experimental validity might consist of five criteria: (1) democratic validity in that the research offersperspectives from all the stakeholders: teachers, students, and administrators; (2) outcome validity or thesuccess of the actions and the subsequent development of new research questions; (3) process validitywhere the data was examined from several different perspectives; (4) catalytic validity in that theparticipants’ understanding of the educational context and how they can make changes to it; (5) dialogicvalidity where the research is monitored through publication (p.30, 31). These criteria have been met inthis study. Both teachers and the course developers who were also program administrators offeredperspectives as did students. New research questions were developed through the process of analysingand discussing the results. There were multiple sources of data and the teachers involved developed agreater understanding of the course and potential improvements that could be made to it.

Conclusion

Afterwards, the 2 course developers and the 3 teachers involved in the project met to discuss the results.All agreed upon the benefits of engaging in action research. Wallace (1998) articulates these benefits asan increase in the depth and coverage of the research, the increased reliability of the results through usingseveral classes, the benefit of obtaining more than one teacher’s perspective on the problem and theresults, and the potentially motivating experience of teacher collaboration on a large project.

On a practical level, the meeting between the 2 developers and the 3 teachers also led to furtherrefinements in the course and in the teaching methodology used in it. The teachers shared effectiveclassroom strategies that they had developed. They felt an increased sense of collegiality and ofownership of educational research through undertaking a collaborative action research project such as thisone. Furthermore, they also planned to present their results to the other teachers of the Academic Skillscourse at the next course program orientation and to continue their examination of the course.

The literature on action research suggests the cyclic, recursive aspect of action research. Burns(1999) notes “...It is difficult to determine a finishing point for these cycles; they could continue for aslong as the individual or group feel that the research is producing curricular change and improvement in



the course” (p.5). Further research on the Academic Skills course might also determine whether or notstudents continue to improve their listening and note-taking abilities as measured on a post-test at the endof the semester.

References

Anderson, A, & Lynch, T. (1988). Listening. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Anderson, G., Hern, K., & Nihlen, A. (1994). Studying your own school. An educator’s guide to qualita-tive research. Thousand Oaks: C.A.

Bame, J. (1995). In Nunan and Miller. (Ed.). New ways in teaching listening. Virginia, USA: TESOL.

Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Teaching the spoken language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative action research for English teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Burns, A. (2000). Action research and applied research: What are the relationships? The LanguageTeacher, 24, 3-5.

Chaudron, C., Loschy, L., & Cook, J. (1994). In J. Flowerdew (Ed.). Academic listening: researchprospectives. Cambridge University Press.

Chaudron, C. (1995). “Academic Listening.” In Mendelsohn, D. & Rubin. (Eds.). A guide for the teachingof second language listening. San Diego, California: Dominie Press.

Cornwell, S. (1999). Interview with Anne Burns and Graham Crookes. The Language Teacher, 23, 5-7;27.

Crookes, G. (1993). Action research for sl teachers: Going beyond teacher research. Applied Linguistics,14, 130-144.

Ferris, D., Taag, T. (1996). Academic listening/speaking task for ESL students: Problems, suggestions,and implications. TESOL Quarterly, 3, 297-320.

Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R. (1988). The action research planner. (3rd ed.) Geelong, Victoria: DeakinUniversity Press.

Lee, W. J. (1977). What type of syllabus for the teaching of English as a foreign or second language?International Review of Applied Linguistics. 15, 246-9.

Lynch, T. (1994.) “Training lecturers for international audiences.” In J. Flowerdew. (Ed.). AcademicListening. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Murphy, J. (1996). Integrating listening and reading instruction in EAP programs. English for SpecificPurposes, 15, 105-120.

Oxford, R. (1993). Research update on teaching L2 listening. System. 21, 205-211.

Powers, D. (1995, Dec.). A survey of academic demands related to listening skills (TOEFL ResearchReport No. 20), Princeton: New Jersey.

Strodt-Lopez, B. (1991). Tying it all in: asides in university lectures. Applied Linguistics. 12, 117-140.

SAS Institute. (1999). Statview. SAS Institute: Cary, North Carolina.

Ur, P. 1984. Teaching listening comprehension. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wallace, M. (1998). Action research for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press:



Appendix AA Comparison of Pre-test and Post-test Scores for the Three Classes

Group Pre-test Post-test

Group 1playing the lecture once 12.214 (mean score) 16 (mean score)n=28 4.031 (s.d.) 4.475 (s.d.)

s= .15 s= -.38k= -1.14 k= -.53

Group 2playing the lecture twice 19.581 (mean score) 23.355 (mean score)n=31 2.802 (s.d.) 2.484 (s.d.)

s= .31 s= -1.62k= -.26 k= -2.25

Group 3stopping the lecture at 12.885 (mean score) 16.577 (mean score)different points 3.945 (s.d.) 3.63 (s.d.)n=26 s= -.13 s= -.54

k= -.36 k= 2.02

at the .0001 level of significances=skewnessk=kurtosis

The author wishes to acknowledge Peter Robinson and Nick Jungheim for their encouragement andsuggestions about the statistical analysis and for Yuki Yoshimura for translating the abstract.



Promoting learner independence is a concern for most teachers andperhaps only a dream in large EFL classes. To show some progress ispossible, the author introduces a procedure developed in general Englishclasses at Japanese universities over the past three years that combinesthe use of conversation cards and mini-recorders to increase learnerslanguage production, communication skills, self-confidence, andautonomy. In describing this system, the author uses authentic examplesof students’ recordings, transcriptions, self-evaluations, and feedback.The author concludes by arguing that by the end of six cycles of theprocedure, students generally make noticeable gains both in confidencein speaking and in making autonomous choices in their learning.

大人数のEFLクラスで、生徒の自主性を促す事は多くの教師にとっての感心事でありながらほぼ不可能な話でもあります。そこで著者は日本の大学で英語専攻でないクラスで発言力、コミュニケーションスキル、自信、自主的な問題処理能力の向上を目的に会話カードと小型録音機を組み合わせて使ったオーラルコミュニケーションクラスの過去３年間の授業から開発された手順を紹介し、この自主性のいくらかの進歩を証明します。このシステムの説明には実際の生徒の録音、転写、自己評価、フィードバックを実例として使っています。この手順を６回程くり返すとほとんどの生徒には授業中での発言と自主的選択とに自信がついている様子が見て取れるということを示し、終結しています。

Introduction

For the past three years, colleagues and Ihave been combining the monthly use of

mini-recorders (Kindt, 2000b) with theweekly use of Students’ Own

Conversation Cards (SOCCs)(Kindt, 2000a) to encouragelearner autonomy in large,once-a-week, 90-minutegeneral English classes.SOCCs are B6-size indexcards with some writing,drawings, pasted pictures,and the like to support

students’ conversations. Theyalso serve as a classroom

management tool, giving theteacher an attendance record,

an indication of the level ofstudents’ engagement, and

written feedback. Cardconversations are at times, recorded

and transcribed. The purpose of therecording and transcription is to increase

students’ efforts in using English of theirchoice, to increase their confidence in communicating in

English, and to give them opportunities to focus more clearly onwhat they are producing—all difficult to achieve in large classes. In thisreport, I describe this procedure, focusing one of several SOCC topicsand providing examples of students’ recordings, transcriptions, self-

IncreasingAutonomy with

RecordedConversations

Duane KindtSchool of Global Business

and Economics, NagoyaUniversity of Foreign Studies


evaluations, and feedback.

The Recording Procedure

Recording Conversations for Student Evaluation (RCSE) (Kindt, 2000b), an adaptation of VideoingConversations for Self-Evaluation (VCSE) (Murphey & Kenny, 1998; Murphey & Woo, 1998), has sevenelements (see Figure 1, Appendix). Towards the end of a class period, teachers (a) introduce aconversation topic and task. Students then complete a homework assignment, returning the followingweek ready to (b) practice and (c) record their conversations. After class, they use their recordings to do(d) a follow-up activity and (e) self-evaluation. In the third class, they compare their work with recordingpartners and offer (f) peer-evaluation. Teachers collect the assignments and (g) teacher feedback isreturned in the beginning of the fourth class. As students are making conversation cards and talking aboutdifferent topics each week, not all of the class time is devoted to the recording process.

Eclecticism is encouraged in presenting new topics. For example, if the topic were Top 5 movies, wemight do a survey of favorite movies, show a clip from a popular movie, have students try an impromptuconversation, or the like. Teachers then introduce the upcoming conversation task by presenting examplecards and potentially useful language forms from former students doing the same task (Kindt, 2000a: 33).An excerpt from the Top 5 movies example appears below (A longer version can be viewed at <http://www.nufs.nakanishi.ac.jp/~dukindt/pages/top5.html>):

A Let’s talk about the movies.Y I… Most I was impressed movie is… (The movie that impressed me most

was…)A Titanic. (offering words)Y Um, of course, Titanic and Stand by Me.A I did… I have not watched (it) yet. (offering information)Y It’s (a) good movie. I was moved very much, and I, I (have) watched Stand by

Me many times.A Many times? How much? (follow-up question)Y Ah, I can’t count.A Really? Y I, when I was, I’m blue. I watch Stand by Me. I gave, I was gived (It gives

me) power.

Students discover stereotypical forms, common errors, and conversation strategies in use (indicatedabove in bold italics). They learn that, “a word that might be better looks like this: (word); and a wordthat is probably an error looks like this: word.” (Kindt, 2000a: 2). They also look at previous students’conversation cards to help them make cards of their own (see Figure 2). SOC card assignments helpstudents personalize the language, using the vocabulary and structures they feel are necessary to performthe task.

When students come to the second class with their assignment completed, we review the topic andpractice the conversations with different partners. Getting students to change partners in large classes canbe problematic, so I use a class map. This is simply a representation of where students are sitting, drawnon the board. “X”s indicate a student who does not move, “O”s indicate a student who moves, and arrowsindicate the direction of the move.

Recording Conversations

After practice conversations, one of every four students receives a recorder and records the conversation.Students who are not recording practice again. After the conversation, the recording student removes thetape and gives the recorder to the partner. Then all “O” students move to a seat with a new partner. Thestudent with the recorder, this time an “X” student, records the next conversation. This procedure isrepeated three times. Thus, it takes four moves using 10 recorders for 40 students to record a

Kindt: Increasing Autonomy with Recorded Conversations


conversation.Ideally, every student would have a recorder and record the same conversation as their partner. This

would be useful for later transcription comparison and discussion of self-evaluations. However, only now,in the third year of this project, have we acquired enough recorders for everyone in a class of 40 to recordat the same time. Alternatively, it is possible to record 5 pairs of students at one time while otherspractice.

Follow-up activitiesStudents follow up their recordings by choosing four to six parts they find interesting, parts where therewas a communication break down, or parts from which they think they can learn. They take about 30minutes to transcribe these parts. After transcribing, they use a colored pen to write corrections (seeFigure 2, Appendix). With minimal guidance, this procedure can help students focus on form (Doughty &Varela, 1998). After transcribing and correcting, students then answer self-evaluation questions (seeFigure 3, Appendix).

When students come to the third class, they compare and discuss their recordings and transcriptions,offering one another help and advice. After class, teachers collect the forms and correct only the students’corrections. This is done so as teachers and students avoid being overloaded. Teachers also note forthemselves recurring errors to use as focus points in subsequent lessons. Teachers’ corrections arereturned the following week with encouragement to try to avoid the same mistakes in later conversations.Students are reminded that language learning is a process that occurs over time, when opportunities to usestructures and vocabulary arise Davies & Kindt, 1999).

Student responsesWe are impressed—and somewhat surprised—by generally positive student response, for example: “Ithink it made me improve my English skill. Because I can learn a lot of words from partners,” and, “Itwas fun…because I could listen how I speak English.” Of course, a few students did not respond aspositively—especially after the first attempt: “I tense up and can’t speak better than usual.” “My partnerand my voices are trembling. I should prepare more.” But most of these students eventually see the valueof recording.

Comments about writing follow-ups were also generally positive: “My friend’s transcription didvery well. Next I will hold out to make like this.” “I did not catch all mistakes. But my partner teach memy fault.” Furthermore, after several recordings, students’ comments continued to show support, “Today’srecording is the best in three times. I’m happy because I could feel this. I didn’t almost use Japanese. Itried to use English only. I could enjoy conversations. It’s so bad that recording is final.”

Something exciting happens when using recorders. Students tend to help each other “get throughit,” and because of this shared experience, other activities seem easier. Students have often commentedthat without the recordings they would not have prepared as much or made as concentrated an effort tospeak in English.

Summary

The decreasing cost of audio recorders has increased the plausibility of their classroom use. We agree thatputting pressure on students who do not feel ready to speak can be harmful. Through classroom experience,awareness of how our students interact, and their ongoing and written feedback, we can make educated guessesabout when the class is ready, and then use the recorders to help students learn to be more independent. In theRCSE procedure, students need to choose what they want to talk about, decide how to prepare for the task,select an area of focus for the follow-up activity, notice a few good lines from their conversations, self-evaluate,and offer peer advice. By the end of six cycles in the RCSE spiral, students generally make noticeable gains inboth confidence in speaking and making autonomous choices in their learning. They become more independentin choosing what to say in their conversations, in their use of the recorders, in choosing what parts of theirconversations to focus on in their transcriptions, in their ability to give and take advice, and the like. We believethat these are remarkable gains, especially in a large EFL class!



References

Davies, L., & Kindt, D. (1999). Exploiting longitudinal videoing of student conversations: Focusingawareness and noticing. Nanzan’s Language Teacher Briefs, 11, 2-4.

Doughty, C., & Varela, E. (1998). Communicative focus on form. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.),Focus on Form in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 114-138). Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Kindt, D. (2000a). Don’t forget your SOCCs! Nagoya: Sankeisha.

Kindt, D. (2000b). “Turning up the heat”: Energizing conversations with cassette recorders. The Lan-guage Teacher, 24(6), 29-31.

Murphey, T., & Kenny, T. (1998). Intensifying practice and noticing through videoing conversations forself-evaluation. JALT Journal, 20(1), 126-140.

Murphey, T., & Woo, L. (1998). Videoing Conversation for Self-Evaluation Educational Video’sDiamond in the Rough. The Language Teacher, 22(8), 21-24.

Footnotes

Internet support for conversation cards and recording conversations can be found at <http://www.nufs.nakanishi.ac.jp/~dukindt/>.

Acknowledgements

The RCSE procedure is a collaborative effort. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of BillActon, Michael Cholewinski, Larry Davies, Clarita Filipinas, Tom Kenny, Ken Kobayashi, Tim Murphey,Scott Rule, Charles Wordell, Linda Woo and students who gave permission to use their work.

This research was funded by generous Pache-IA grants from Nanzan University.

AppendixFigure 1



Figure Two



Figure Three



Learning strategies research indicates that all students employ someforms of learning strategies. Successful learners, however, are moreflexible and use a greater variety of strategies. Furthermore, they mayalso be more capable of learning autonomously. Based on theseassumptions, the teaching of learning strategies is being incorporated intothe on-going development of the Intensive English course curriculum atKyushu Lutheran College.

Using data from a variety of sources, this paper describes ways inwhich learning strategies, specifically metacognitive, memory, andcompensation strategies, are taught across the curriculum. The finalsection demonstrates how students use these and other learning strategiesin the assessment process.

学習ストラテジーの研究文献によると、学生は皆何らかの形でストラテジーを用いている。しかしながら、優秀な学生はより柔軟にさまざまなストラテジーを用い、さらには自主的な学習能力を有していると考えられる。九州ルーテル学院大学では、このような仮説に基づいた学習ストラテジーの指導が一連の「インテンシヴ・イングリッシュ」科目の中に改善を加えながら組み込まれている。

本稿では多様な資料から集約されたデータを活用しながら、学習ストラテジー( 特にメタ認知を用いたストラテジー、記憶のためのストラテジー、補助教材を利用するストラテジー) がカリキュラムを通して教授され

る方法を論じる。最終節では評価の過程で学生がどのようにこれらの学習ストラテ

ジーを用いるかについて実例を示す。

Introduction

Learning strategiesresearch indicates that

all students employsome forms oflearning strategies.Successful learners,however, areobserved to bemore flexible anduse a greater variety

of strategies(Chamot, Barnhardt,

El-Dinay, & Robbins,1999). Therefore, by

assisting students to usea range of strategies, as

well as by providingsituations for practice,

students may become moreefficient learners. Furthermore, with

these skills in learning strategies, they maybecome more autonomous learners. Based on these

assumptions, the teaching of learning strategies has been incorporatedinto all levels of the Intensive English course curriculum at KyushuLutheran College.

At the college, Intensive English is a four-semester required course

Miriam BlackKyushu Lutheran College

ImplementingLearningStrategies


emphasizing the four skills. Since classes have various levels of learners, the main challenge is to providematerials that motivate a wide range of students. In addition, class is limited to two periods a week, withadditional work in the Self-Access Center. Thus, a conscious effort has been made to promote learnerautonomy, to assist students in becoming more confident in learning independently outside of class.

During several planning sessions before the 1998 school year, teachers discussed areas of strategytraining they wished to emphasize in their classes. Rebecca Oxford’s (1990) taxonomy of learningstrategies was used because it was easy to follow, and her book, Language Learning Strategies (1990)contains much practical information about the application of learning strategies in the classroom.Moreover, since the Intensive English faculty has teachers with various levels of experience, theseplanning meetings also provided the opportunity for teachers to ask questions and gain information aboutlearning strategy theory.

Program Design

The basic structural design of the Intensive English course includes classroom practice, homework, theLearning Journal, and portfolio assessment, which all feed into and reinforce each other. The LearningJournal, was developed to help coordinate and expand the teaching of learning strategies. Students aretaught particular strategies and given opportunities to practice them both in class and in their homework.The Learning Journal is a place to record and reflect on selected learning experiences (Black, 2000).

Students work in the Self-Access Center serves as a further opportunity to consolidate skills andpractice learning strategies. In the Self-Access Center, students work independently and at their ownlevel, completing a variety of tasks in intensive and extensive reading, listening, video, and language artsto develop their English skills. During the first year at college, they are guided and trained to work in theSelf-Access Center. In the second year, students schedule the completion of exercises in their free time,and the amount of exercises is negotiated.

In the development of specific learning strategies activities, particular elements recur: It is an on-going process in which input is considered from all teachers in the group, a review of current practices isconducted on a regular basis, and the emphasis is on building core activities that challenge all students,regardless of level. Certain structures facilitate this process. Weekly meetings are held for all IntensiveEnglish teachers, and the agenda includes the sharing of ideas involving the implementation of learningstrategies. At the end of each academic year, meetings are held to review the curriculum. Tasks formaterials development are then assigned to various group members.

Building Memory Strategies through Vocabulary

At our college, many students have voiced concern that one of their weakest points in English is theirvocabulary level. They have expressed the desire to learn more words to strengthen conversation skillsand reading comprehension, yet at the same time state that learning vocabulary is difficult and time-consuming. These comments indicate a need for students not only to build their vocabulary, but moreimportantly, strengthen their memory strategies. Paul Nation (1990) writes, “It is clear that if a teacherwants to help learners cope with . . . vocabulary . . . it is far better to spend time on strategies that thelearners can use to deal with these words than to spend time on individual words” (p. 159). To developthese strategies, a variety of techniques is being utilized at our college. As students work through a listadapted by Robert Waring from Michael West’s General Service list of the 2000 most frequently usedwords in English, word cards, quick quizzes, word calendars and word association exercises are used inthe classroom to practice memory strategies.

One memory strategy that is taught is the structured review of material. In Intensive English I,students are required to make word cards using unfamiliar words from the word list. They are then taughttechniques for reviewing these words and are encouraged to study them on a regular basis outside ofclass. Along with the cards, students are also taught to review vocabulary systematically through weeklyquizzes that are compiled from the word list. Students can check their own level of learning and becomeaware of their weak points. Mistakes are noted in the Learning Journal and then practiced further in thehomework.

Black et.al.: Implementing Learning Strategies in a Curriculum


In addition to the structured review of material, students are taught how to make associations withnew words. Strategies such as grouping words into categories, using affixes, and putting words in theproper context help students create a strong foundation of vocabulary on which they can build. One toolthat students are taught to use is a word calendar (Allen & Marquez, 1998). Students write a new word aday on the calendar, along with its definition and a sentence demonstrating the word’s meaning. In thisway they practice using the new words in context. This is reinforced by classroom activities wherestudents exchange calendars and quiz each other on their partner’s words. Students are thus able to use thenew material in an active setting and learn new words from their partner.

Another technique that is used to promote vocabulary development is word association games.Students are given a single word and then asked to write as many words or phases as possible, which areassociated with it. Through the use of this simple game they are shown how to organize words into groupsand expand the vocabulary they already know. By teaching memory strategies, students can develop theirvocabulary and become more comfortable using a wider variety of strategies. This in turn helpsvocabulary learning become a more manageable task.

Teaching Compensation Strategies in the Classroom

Many learners enter the Intensive English program with limited oral and written communication skills.Often, when confronted with unknown expressions in class, learners either panic, stop listening, orimmediately consult a dictionary. These responses can interrupt the flow of classroom activities andimpede progress toward fluency. Consequently, learners are taught compensation strategies that enablethem to function in the new language and assist them in overcoming their limitations in knowledge.Oxford (1990) has grouped compensation strategies into two distinct categories—guessing intelligently inlistening and reading, and overcoming limitations in speaking and writing. These strategies are frequentlyintroduced and promoted through a variety of classroom exercises that feature recorded dialogues, videoclips, and music.

Recorded dialogues are used to promote reading, listening, and speaking skills. Learners makeintelligent guesses by filling in a gapped text before they listen to the recording. As they do so, they drawon their previous knowledge of the text subject matter, word order, and parts of speech. After filling in asmany blanks as possible, learners listen to the recording and check their work. They also check theiranswers with a partner, thus activating each other’s background knowledge by using one another asresources in problem solving.

Video clips provide visual, non-verbal clues to develop writing and speaking skills. After viewing ashort video clip of a wedding, for instance, learners may be asked to write down how the bride and groomfelt about the situation by observing body language and facial expressions. They may also write theiropinions of the style of clothing, scenery, and other cultural aspects that differ from their own. By makingintelligent guesses, they may describe or offer any opinion about what they see. Therefore, regardless oflanguage level, they are able to respond. In addition to making intelligent guesses, there are othercompensation strategies that enable learners to sustain conversations and continue writing for extendedperiods of time. These include switching to the mother tongue when the target-language word isunknown, requesting help in a conversation by asking for a missing word, and choosing to avoidcommunication on topics that feature unknown or difficult words or grammar.

Music activities are used for developing these compensation strategies in speaking. Songs that arewritten with a personalized story line or in a poetic style can allow greater room for interpretation.Furthermore, since the meanings of many songs are unclear, learners are essentially free to say anythingthey wish without necessarily understanding the lyrics. Learners may be given a song text that they areasked to read before and while they listen to the music. After listening to the song, learners converseusing song-inspired topics of their choice, thus exercising their freedom to choose a familiar topic and thelevel of difficulty. Through discussion with multiple partners, learners have opportunities to develop andrefine their ideas.

The same compensation strategies can be practiced in quick or free writing activities. Learners areencouraged to write as much as possible on a topic without the aid of a dictionary. If they do not



understand the topic, they have the option of changing the focus, or starting with a teacher-suggestedphrase such as, “I’m not sure, but I think . . .” The goal is to have learners write freely and increasefluency.

When presented with various compensation strategies from which they can choose, learners of alllevels have demonstrated greater participation in oral and written communication tasks. In interviews,students have often remarked that they feel free to try English when given opportunities to choose theirfocus. One student said, “Before, I couldn’t speak English . . . no freedom . . . teacher topics only weredifficult, not interesting, but now I can choose my topics and I come to like English more.” Suchsentiments not only reflect an increased enthusiasm for learning, but also greater learner autonomy.

Implementing Metacognitive Learning Strategies in a Curriculum

Involving students in creating their own goals may help them become more self-directed learners andimprove their performance (Nunan, 1995). However, the challenge in realizing this is in fosteringstudents’ ability to think about their learning and then act on this reflection. At our college, teachers areassisting students to develop this self-awareness and action. Metacognitive strategies provide a way forlearners to coordinate their own learning process. These strategies categorized by Oxford (1990), include(a) arranging and planning, and (b) evaluating one’s learning. Teachers use a variety of activities in theIntensive English program to guide students in the practice of these and other metacognitive strategies.

Arranging and Planning Learning

The Learning Journal is one place where metacognitive strategies are practiced in all four semesters ofIntensive English. Students designate pages for recording their attendance and assignments in theirjournal. Students also note when assignments are completed. This log helps students be responsible fortasks and can also be used to inform classmates who were absent from class about homework. In addition,students complete a weekly schedule of their classes, part-time jobs, and extracurricular activities andattach this to the inside cover of their journals. This helps them organize their time, especially study time.

Arranging and planning one’s learning also includes the strategy of setting goals. This is practicedmore prominently in the Self-Access Center. During the first two semesters of Intensive English, studentshave a scheduled class period to complete the target amount of exercises set by the teachers in eachactivity area . In the third and fourth semesters, students must arrange to complete the required work intheir free time. Furthermore, in the fourth semester, students are able to customize their plan, focusing onthe skill areas and activities most suited to their goals for language learning. Students submit a writtenrationale for this plan, and consult their teacher several times throughout the semester to discuss anyissues.

Evaluating Learning

One category of materials used to facilitate students’ evaluation of their language learning is progresscharts. Progress charts are used in the Self-Access Center to track students’ reading and listening skills.Not only can students see their progress, but teachers can also use these charts when advising students ontheir self-access work. Another is the quick or free write progress chart. Here, students record the date,number of minutes, and number of words for each quick write they complete in class.

A third example is the skills development graph that students complete at the end of each semesterand place in their portfolios. In this graph, they plot their levels of reading, writing, speaking, listening,and vocabulary skills over the course of the semester. In addition, they need to explain each high or lowpoint on the graph. For example, many students’ low point in speaking level occurs during vacation time,and a common explanation is that they did not make any opportunities for practice. With the help of thesecharts, students are able to evaluate their strong and weak points. These exercises highlight target areasfor improvement and aid students in setting future goals for language learning. Teachers report that ininterviews, students are indeed able to state what they need to improve and, therefore, are more able totake control of their learning.



Learning Strategies in Assessment

Learning strategies implemented across a curriculum are best assessed through holistic approaches. Byexamining the students’ work, we can observe how these learning strategies are being employed. In theIntensive English program at our college, teachers use an interview and a portfolio containing workselected by students to assess their progress. In these activities, students are asked to reflect on theirlearning and levels of English skills, and also indicate how these may be further developed. Through thisprocess, students take a more active role in assessment and demonstrate their use of metacognitivestrategies, or core thinking skills (O’Malley & Valdez Pierce, 1996).

As students prepare and then present their portfolios during the end of semester interview, theyfocus on all their work and organize it. This means analyzing the pieces and selecting samples thatdemonstrate progress, such as the best and weakest free writing task, a writing project complete with allthe drafts, and so on. Then, they have to evaluate themselves and give a grade for the course. During theinterview, students have to justify their evaluation, and establish future learning goals.

The interview-portfolio system has met with multiple challenges. To begin with, students have to betrained to collect, select, and reflect on their work. To help students prepare for the end of semesterinterview, we conduct two additional interviews with them, one at the beginning and one in the middle ofthe semester. In these interviews, students may be asked to describe their learning goals for the semester,select their best and weakest samples of work to date, evaluate their learning, and/or describe their planfor meeting their learning goals for the rest of the semester.

A further difficulty with using this assessment procedure is that since part of the students’ finalgrade for the course includes an assessment of the portfolio, there is a need for more transparency in thegrading. Regarding validity, the portfolio and interview clearly reflect the kind of teaching and learningthat goes on in the Intensive English program. However, establishing the reliability of the assessmentprocedure is a challenge. To ensure consistent grading, the assessment criteria have been discussed anddefined by all the teachers. In addition, there are examples of student writing and interview tapes to act assamples of the portfolio work for each grade level. Currently, we are also exploring ways of using secondreaders for portfolios.

In 1999, a survey was administered to all first and second year students in the Intensive Englishprogram. In addition, a small group of third year students who had already completed the programresponded to the survey. In the bilingual survey, students indicated their preferred means of assessment, aswell as described what they perceived to be the strengths and weaknesses of using the portfolio andinterview system. The survey was anonymous, but those who agreed to be interviewed could indicate thisby writing their name on the form.

A similar procedure was adopted in 2000 with all the first and second year students, as well as asmall group of third and fourth years. Additional unsolicited data were obtained from third and fourthyear students who wrote about using the portfolio and interview system in their education papers. Afurther source of data was the teachers themselves. Through regular weekly meetings and two validationexercises, teachers have expressed their opinions about using the portfolio and interview as a means ofassessment. They have also been able to implement these ideas, thereby ensuring the assessmentprocedures reflect closely teaching goals.

In the two surveys and interviews, students and teachers have responded positively to this methodof assessment. It allows classroom activities to be taken into account more obviously than in astandardized multiple-choice test, and therefore, has a positive washback, that is, it supports the goals ofthe classroom curriculum. Students maintain that this approach is less threatening than tests, especially asthey select the work that goes into the portfolio. This approach involves students more actively in theassessment process and provides an opportunity for teachers to observe their use of metacognitivestrategies. Moreover, since the final grade for the course is not dependent on a single test, the grade moreclosely reflects students’ actual development as learners.



Conclusion

As demonstrated in this paper, the teaching of learning strategies has been implemented in a collegecurriculum. However, ours remains an imperfect model. Ideally, we need to know more about whatstrategies students are using when they enter the program, and those that they are using when they leave.Or better yet, know what strategies students continue to employ in their third and fourth years of study.

Another area of question is consistency among individual teachers. This is especially challengingbecause teachers value a certain degree of autonomy in their classrooms. The challenge is how tocontinue to encourage teacher creativity, yet still maintain consistency in the program. This makesevaluating the program problematic, as each teacher may emphasize some strategies more than others, ora certain activity may fit the teaching style of one particular teacher more than another. We need toexamine more closely what we say we are doing and what we are actually doing in regard to the teachingof learning strategies.

From our experience, however, the incorporation of the teaching of learning strategies in acurriculum does not necessarily entail making radical changes. Nor does it mean that teachers are forcedto adopt teaching practices with which they are uncomfortable. Instead, once the base structures are inplace, the learning strategies can be integrated into an existing curriculum, and changes made gradually.

References

Allen, K., & Marquez, A. (1998). Word calendars. The TESOL Journal, 7(6), 35-37.

Black, M. (2000). Promoting learning strategies and learner autonomy: student learning journals. TheJapanese Learner, 21, 11-16.

Chamot, A., Barnhardt, S., El-Dinay, P., & Robbins, J. (1999). The learning strategies handbook. WhitePlains, NY: Longman.

Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Nunan, D. (1995). Closing the gap between teaching and learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 131-158.

O’Malley, J., & Valdez Pierce, L. (1996). Authentic assessment for English language teachers. New York:Addison-Wesley Publishing.

Oxford, R. (1990). Language learning strategies. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.



Section Five

AcrossCultures


A significant role of intercultural communication in the classroom is toshow how certain barriers to learning a foreign language can besuccessfully bridged through awareness of important communicationstyle differences between the teacher and students or between thestudents themselves. Through an understanding of the dynamics ofcommunication style differences and by structuring classroom practicesthat foster increased intercultural awareness and empathy, teachers canhelp students to be more competent cross-cultural communicators. Adiverse and potent set of experiences and opinions resulted from thelively discussion by the forum participants. A personal narrativeexploring a framework for defining the difference between useful culturalgeneralizations and negative stereotypes is given. This knowledge andinsights have useful implications for delineating teachers’ beliefs,understanding student perceptions, and guiding classroom decisions forimproving learning of foreign languages in Japan or abroad.

教室内でのコミュニケーション行動への理解を深めるために、文化によるコミュニケーション・スタイルの違いを知る必要がある。ネイティブの教師と日本人生徒のコミュニケーション・スタイルの違いを考慮した上で、教室内の諸活動を計画すれば、生徒の参加度、満足度、学習度を上げられるばかりでなく、英語学習への動機付けにもなる。さらに、生徒の異

文化コミュニケーション能力を育むことができる。本稿では、ビデオ教材の紹介とそれを用いてのクラス運営、そし

て、外国人教師の異文化への認識の変化について報告する。

Introduction

A formidable and sometimesfrustrating challenge for both

teachers and students in theforeign language classroom isbridging the gap thatsometimes results from theconfrontation betweenintercultural communicationstyles of the teacher andthose of the students or

between the studentsthemselves. Frequently

English and other foreignlanguage classes in Japan are

taught by a native languagespeaking teacher from the target

culture whose expectations forclassroom communicative behavior

confront Japanese students, most ofwhom have been educated in an essentially

monolingual and culturally homogenoussociety, with the difficult task of transcending

communication behavior norms.The situation is one that may be fraught with frustration for both

teachers and students, yet can also be filled with the potential forsignificant learning (Anderson, 1993, Kramsch, 1993). Similarly, when

David BrooksKitasato University

Yashiro KyokoReitaku University

Donna FujimotoKobe University

of CommerceHamilton Cruz

ALC Education

InterculturalDimensions of theForeign Language

Classroom:Communication Style

Differences


an ethnically and culturally diverse group of students are asked to participate fully in a traditionalclassroom environment while studying the language of their host country, there may be many factors toaccount for cross-cultural conflict because communication style differences reach to the very core of thecultures involved (Kramsch, 1993; Skow and Stephan, 2000). From still another point of view, not onlythe foreign teachers, but also Japanese instructors of foreign languages, particularly those educated abroador who have had other types of acculturation experiences, can be perplexed by the communicationbehavior of their Japanese students or by their colleagues from Japan or other nations.

One of the primary functions of foreign language education is to teach communication competencein a first or second foreign language. Yet the conflicts that result from attempting to communicate acrossunrecognized and unappreciated cultural gaps in communication behavior may serve as stumbling blocksto productive learning and teaching. These issues were explored in the inaugural forum of the CrossingCultures Special Interest Group. The main purpose of the session held at the JALT2000 Conference wasto reveal the significant role that cross-cultural communication plays in the dynamics of the languageclassroom and to explore intercultural differences in communication styles in order to bridge barriers toeffectively learn communication skills by describing how the perceived and even hidden cultural gaps canbe overcome through awareness, understanding, and classroom practices that foster cross-culturallearning and intercultural competence.

The participants were briefly introduced to the various dimensions of intercultural communicationthrough theoretical models, and examples were given for types of actual classroom practices that helpclose the cross-cultural gap between the learners and the teachers. The main focus was the use of anexcerpt from the cross-cultural training video, A Different Place: The Intercultural Classroom (Wurzeland Fischman, 1994). The film affords an opportunity to observe a teaching situation where ignorance ofcommunication styles differences posed a threat to the efficacy of the educational goals of the classroom.While achieving all the presentation objectives of this forum was a difficult task; fortunately, manymeaningful questions and issues for further exploration and research were generated by the subsequentdiscussion. The enthusiastic audience responses and new points for investigation that emerged during thesession are also included.

Making the Dynamics of Communication Styles Come Alive

The culture of the typical classroom at secondary and tertiary levels in Japan does not readily facilitate theacquisition of communicative competence in the target language (Brooks, 2000). The large interculturalgap between the students and the new classroom culture led by a nonJapanese English language teachercan be addressed through both intercultural understanding and through cross-cultural training for thelearners (Nozaki, 1993).

Cultures differ in the way they define what communication styles are appropriate for each situationand purpose (Yamada, 1997). When we teach English to Japanese students, we are also teaching differentcommunication styles, and different underlying value systems. Unfortunately, we often overlook this verybasic fact and rush into teaching language. Then we are frustrated when teacher-student or student-studentinteractions in the classroom do not proceed as we wished (Samovar and Porter, 2001).

As a cultural awareness-raising exercise, the classroom instructional video, A Different Place: TheIntercultural Classroom, created by Intercultural Resource Corporation was shown to the forumparticipants. In the video, we see various communication styles as students from different cultures interactin an university classroom in the United States. The process to make viewing the video a valuableintercultural observation experience for our students was modeled for the forum participants and isdescribed below. Students at almost all levels can be asked to concentrate on the nonverbal aspects and toattempt to follow its verbal features such as length of each person’s utterances, the turn taking, pause andsilence, even if the actual content of the discussion may be too complicated for them to understandcompletely.

In the classroom situation in the video, we see the following things. The teacher does not lecture.He uses a dialogical teaching style. The students in the U.S. employ lots of eye contact and facialexpressions, and they exchange short clear comments with quick turn taking and turn giving. The students

Brooks et.al.: Intercultural Dimensions of the FL Classroom


from Central America and Africa make long utterances. Students from China and Japan show very littleeye contact and they do not participate in student-student interaction. They are focusing on the teacher.

After observing the classroom dynamics in the video and listing the differences found in thecommunicative behavior of the teacher and the students, a brief summary of verbal communication styledifferences was given. Following the verbal styles explanation, the students are cautioned not tostereotype but to use the style generalizations in furthering their understanding of communicationbehavior (Shimaoka and Yashiro, 1990).

Japanese culture Western cultures

gyre-like linearindirect directsuccinct exactingaffective instrumental

Gyre-like (or Åground aboutÅh) style refers to the development of discourse in a turning, windingfashion, never coming to the conclusion. The speaker wants the listener to understand the conclusionwithout the speaker saying it. In the linear style, the speaker states the conclusion and then states why heor she reached that conclusion. Indirect style is used when the speaker needs to refuse or deny what theother person has said. It is well known that Japanese have at least ten different ways of saying no withoutactually using the word, no. In the direct style, yes and no are clearly stated. Succinct style refers totelegraphic speech. This style is used among people who share a lot of common knowledge, such as inmonolingual mono-ethnic cultures where long explanation is considered unnecessary or redundant.Exacting style, stating as clearly and as thoroughly as possible to avoid misunderstanding, is used whenpeople do not share much common knowledge, as in multilingual multiethnic communities. Affectivestyle refers to the use of language primarily to establish good feelings between the people communicatingand instrumental style refers to use of language primarily to convey information. All of these styles are areflection of the underlying value system each culture possesses (Gudykunst and Kim, 1997). Helping ourstudents to be aware of their own and other communication styles can be both eye opening and enabling.

Making the Learning Real: Intercultural Dimensions of Our Conference Session

After viewing the video, A Different Place, the forum participants broke up into small groups to discusstheir reactions. The ensuing discussions were as diverse as the range of opinions presented in themulticultural classroom in the video itself. Described below are a few brief glimpses of some of theinteresting topics and challenging issues that resulted from the participants’ discussions.

Unlike the multicultural classroom portrayed in the video, the typical English language class inJapan appears to be homogeneous. However, upon closer examination, we will most probably find hiddendiversities. One of the participant groups, all of whom were female Japanese teachers of English,discussed the fact that they sometimes have to consciously change from a Japanese approach to a style ofspeaking which is more typical of an English speaker. Sometimes it is for pedagogical reasons, i.e., theyare providing a good model for their students; and sometimes it is simply because they learned English inthat way and feel most comfortable with it. However, this nonJapanese style can also be viewednegatively by others who are judging them from appearances alone, not realizing that these teachers are infact members of a hidden culture—in this case, the bilingual teacher (Kitano, 1993). The members of thisgroup realized that they may need to make their intercultural identities and communication style choicemore explicit to their students and colleagues (and especially Japanese males) in order for their teachingto be accepted more readily.

Another group talked about the fact that this video would be too difficult for their students tounderstand; however, it is still extremely useful—perhaps more so for raising the awareness of teachers. Itis helpful to take an objective look at the differences in classroom participation and the range of studentapproaches in expressing their opinions. It was pointed out that, in fact, this video was originally made



specifically for teacher training. This video and so many other intercultural materials on the market aregeared for intermediate and advanced students, and there is, unfortunately, a dearth of material forstudents at the beginning level of English. It is, in fact, at this very level where intercultural lessons aremost crucial. Several participants felt very strongly that intercultural lessons are necessary from day oneof the English class.

Teachers commented that the use of video and film (not just this particular one) is perhaps one ofthe best ways to introduce intercultural concepts in the classroom, and there were numerousrecommendations of what has worked well in the past. Participants also spoke of the need to give studentstraining before going on study abroad programs. Despite all that is already known about the culturalfactors which present tremendous difficulties for Japanese students studying abroad, it seems that toomany students have always had to learn the hard way—the sink-or-swim method. Hopefully, moreattention can be given to preparing this group of students by further efforts to raise awareness of the roleof intercultural communication in language teaching and learning.

After the small group discussions, we reconvened in the large group to share the different views andreactions. One of the most interesting results was that what took place in this part of the session veryoften mirrored exactly what we had just witnessed in the video! One participant commented that shewould hesitate to show her students the video excerpt because she felt it depicted a rather insensitiveAmerican student, and there was some concern expressed that perhaps we would be teaching our studentsstereotypes. Relative to other cultures, Americans tend to bristle at being stereotyped, and by notincluding the insensitive American student, the whole impact of the multicultural contrasts embedded inthe video would then be lost. If Americans can see themselves as others see them—the Russian, the SouthAfrican, the Chinese, etc.—it will become clear that in this video the American student was beingpresented in the same evenhanded way that all the other cultures were. In fact, there was more than onetype of American style represented in the video as well—a point that may have been overlooked by theAmerican participant. As it can be argued that Americans make up the largest portion of the population ofnative English language teachers in this country, the need for broadening the appreciation of interculturaldiversity in communication styles through such dialogue seems especially relevant.

Whether the forum participants realized it or not, there was a tendency for the native speakers ofEnglish to be the first to speak, to hold the floor longer and to either overlap or chime in more quickly.Some Japanese teachers never spoke out at all, and a few of the Japanese teachers who spoke experiencedseveral failed attempts at grabbing the floor before sharing their opinion. In a few instances, thefacilitators deliberately held the floor open for the Japanese participant. In the final analysis, this sessionwas not just a mirror of the video—it was a mirror of real life!

A Teacher’s Personal Journey toward Intercultural Awareness

No more clearly can the lessons of the construction of intercultural meaning be perceived than in thepersonal story of one of the panelists whose existence has transcended several formative cross-culturalexperiences. His recounting of how he was perceived as a student by his teacher and how this realizationaffected his intercultural growth, was both poignant and particularly meaningful to the discussion.

After being an English Instructor in both Thailand and Japan, it is my experience that theperceptions that I bring into the classroom carry over to my attitudes and expectations towards mystudents. When I started to live overseas, I was not fully cognizant of the mindsets by which differentcultures perceived the world. In Thailand, I began to perceive that I wouldn’t be able to work effectivelyif I continued to function along the same lines of consciousness that held while living in the United States.In other words, though I had known that my experiences in another country would be very different, itwas the sudden descent into that culture and its barrage of sensations that overhauled my perceptions.

When I began to analyze my own perceptions in thinking, I realized how my unique experiences asa learner in the classroom have influenced my perspectives. As a child, I struggled through grade schooland I sometimes felt out of sync – somehow not fitting in with the dominant culture of the classroom. Iwas expecting something different from my teachers and when those expectations were not met, Iresigned myself to warming the seat and keeping out of trouble.



When a teacher commented on one of my reports cards that I was a good boy but lackedaggressiveness because I couldn’t look at him directly, I was shocked because this contradicted my senseof what I had learned to be proper behavior—sitting in my chair and obeying my teacher. As a childraised in Hispanic culture in the United States, I never felt that aggression should be directed towards ateacher or anyone else in an authoritarian position. Subsequently, the whole issue of aggressiveness actedas a catalyst for further investigation. I began this journey into intercultural awareness by examining myfamily and it values and where those values came from. I discovered that what this teacher had perceivedin me as a lack of aggressiveness or assertiveness could be reflected in the tendency for Hispanics to seekrelationships by building on trust. The assertiveness, which is prevalent in many competitive schoolsituations, does not foster an environment of trust that is conducive to learning in a Hispanic classroom.

What began to come into focus was how I operated in a different paradigm from that of my teachersand the nonHispanic students around me. As my perspectives broadened and I began to investigate thecircumstances that enhanced my understanding of these differences, I tried to put myself into situationswhere I would not have to exist among either Americans or Hispanics in order to see how other peoplefrom different cultures functioned. My move to Thailand and then to Japan was my attempt to examinethese mindsets.

The Application of Cross-Cultural Communication in the Classroom

Like the teacher above, we all develop different perceptions of life and learning based on our experiences,education, likes and dislikes, and deeper cultural values. These perceptions are formed within a culturalparadigm that filters how we perceive the environment around us (Hofstede, 1986). What evolves is amindset, a term used by Glen Fisher (1997) in his book of the same title, which unconsciously locks usinto our cultural perceptions and can actually diminish our ability to function effectively in a cross-cultural classroom – whether as student or teacher.

A cross-cultural classroom can exist within a variety of circumstances, a fact of which all teachersshould be cognizant. The one we are most familiar with is where a foreign language teacher from aculturally dissimilar background interacts with students within a mono-cultural context. Another setting isa class that has two or more very distinct cultural or ethnic groups in which one group, including theteacher, is a member of that society’s majority while others are members of its cultural minority. There isalso the situation where the student body is culturally and ethnically diverse, as is in the case in manyparts of North America, Australia, Canada, as well as other countries, and the teacher must manage a classwhere every student has a different cultural perspective based on unique experiences, education and valuepreferences. Within the walls of these modern classrooms and many others, a microcosm of ourglobalized societies has been formed and unfolds on a daily basis (Jin and Cortazzi, 1998). Similarly, weshould not overlook the diversity, however subtle it may seem, even within our classrooms in this country.

Concluding Thoughts

Today’s teachers are walking into cross-cultural classrooms that are similar to the one presented in thevideo A Different Place, and they are facing instructional and cross-cultural challenges that, at one time,made managing foreign language instruction easily taken for granted. While different teachers certainlyhave their own idiosyncratic ways of dispensing information to their students, on another level, they areunconsciously operating within a conceptual paradigm that influences the way they interact with theirstudents. There is a need for language teachers to start assessing the cultural environment of theclassroom and to design learning experiences with the aim of developing strategies for improvingintercultural communication beyond the linguistic competencies (Seeyle, 1992) alone. Awareness of thediversity within our classroom environments and the communication dynamics present therein call forintercultural adaptability and cross-cultural competence on the parts of both students and teachers.



References

Anderson, F. E. (1993). The enigma of the college classroom: Nails that don’t stick up. In P. Wadden(Ed.), A handbook for teaching English at Japanese colleges and universities. (pp. 101-119). Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Brooks, D. L. (2000). Developing second language argumentative discourse through contextual andmetacognitive cross-cultural training. Kitasato Review (Annual Report of Studies in Liberal Arts andSciences, No.5, pp. 21-34). Sagamihara, Japan: Kitasato University.

Fisher, G. (1997). Mindsets: The role of culture and perception in international relations. 2nd ed.Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press.

Gudykunst, W. B. and Kim, Y.Y. (1997). Communicating with strangers: An approach to interculturalcommunication. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Hofstede, G .(1986). Cultural differences in teaching and learning. International Journal of InterculturalRelations, 10, 301-319.

Jin, L. and Cortazzi, M. (1998). The culture the learner brings: a bridge or a barrier? In M.Byram and M.Fleming (Eds.), Language learning in intercultural perspective: Approaches through drama andethnography. (pp. 98-118) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kitano, H.L., Japanese American values and communication patterns. In Gudykunst, W. (1993) (Ed.)Communication in Japan and the United States. (pp. 122-146). Albany: State University of New YorkPress.

Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Nozaki, K. N. (1993). The Japanese student and the foreign teacher. In P. Wadden (Ed.), A handbook forteaching English at Japanese colleges and universities. (pp. 27-33). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Samovar, L.A. and Porter, R. E. (2001). Communication between cultures. 4th ed. Stamford, CT:Wadsworth/Thomson Learning

Seeyle, H.N. (1992). Teaching culture: Strategies for intercultural communication. Lincolnwood, IL:National Textbook Company.

Shimaoka,T. and Yashiro, K. (1990) Team Teaching in English Classrooms: An Intercultural Approach.(pp.76-90) Tokyo: Kairyudo.

Skow, L. and Stephan, L. (2000). Intercultural communication in the university classroom. In L. A. Samo-var & R. E. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural communication: A reader (pp. 355-370). Belmont, CA:Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Wurzel, J. and Fischman, N. (1994). A different place: The intercultural classroom. [Video and Instruc-tional Guide for Video Seminar]. Newtonville, MA: Intercultural Resource Corporation.

Yamada, H. (1997) Different games, different rules: Why Americans and Japanese misunderstand eachother. New York: Oxford University Press.



この文書は、短期留学研修の間に、生徒を中心とした記述人種学のカリキュラムのあらましを述べています。

Ｐｅｉｒｃｅ（１９９４、１９９５）の研究から引用したそのカリキュラムは、学習者に日本とアメリカの両

方を観察させました。日本での観察は、学習者を訓練させるのに役立ちました。彼らは、ホストファミリーとの話し合いを容易にするためにこのデーターを用いました。アメリカでの観察は、そのとき行われました。

留学研修後、学習者はエッセイの中とクラス討論の中で、日本とアメリカの比較をしました。この文書は役に立った討論を終え、ＥＦＬにおいて生徒を中心とした記述人種学を他の方法として適用することを提案します。

A large number of Japanese learners of English travel abroad on anannual basis to improve their language skills. During relatively shortstays in an English-speaking environment, these learners have manyopportunities to observe native patterns of interaction. While exchangestudents make many informal observations in the host context, theyrarely consolidate their newfound knowledge of differences incommunication patterns. It is the goal of this paper to describe howstudent-centered ethnographic research can be used to help learners getthe most out of their experience abroad. After providing a brief

theoretical rational for student-based ethnography inthe context of an exchange program, this paper

will outline the goals of a term-longethnographic project. Then, the

ethnographic work of the students willbe described. The paper will close

with a discussion of the benefits ofthis type of curriculum and withsome suggestions for furtherapplications of student-basedethnography.

Theoretical Background

Today, over 100,000Japanese learners travel

abroad annually to participatein short-term study programs,

creating both a driving forcefor and a covert component to

secondary and tertiary Englishinstruction. Given the number of

students participating in study-abroad programs, teachers working in

Japan are more likely than not to workwith students who have returned from a

short time abroad. For the language learner, theshort-term exchange experience offers the first opportunity

to be fully immersed in the English language and exposed to an Englishspeaking culture. Learners observe and experience socialization practicesand accompanying discourses (Gee, 1996) in the home and at school.Such exposure is thought to serve as a motivating springboard for future

Eton ChurchillTemple University Japan

RaniVivathanachai

Kyoto Nishi High School

ACurriculum for

StudentEthnography


language study (Geis & Fukushima, 1997). It also provides Japanese learners with interaction routinesthat allow them to be “more extroverted and assertive”, characteristics assumed to be conducive tolanguage learning in an EFL context (Geis & Fukushima, 1997; Iwakiri, 1993).

Anyone who has accompanied Japanese learners abroad can report that learners are constantlymaking observations about native speaker rules of interaction and situationally appropriate language.While learners on a short-term exchange are expected to make linguistic gains, they also have a greatopportunity to learn the ways in which native speakers interact in contexts as diverse as the family diningroom and the high school classroom. Unfortunately, in most instances, the understanding that learnersgain from this exposure lies in the realm of implicit knowledge at best because they are never required toprocess their observations.

From a theoretical perspective, an attempt to formalize learner observations of target discourses iswell founded. According to Agar (1994), the learning of the target linguaculture is a process of engagingin the micropolitics of interaction. The more the learner interacts, the better understanding he/she canattain of the norms that guide native speakers in their conversations. Similarly, Willet (1995) believes thatit is essential to sensitize learners to how interactions generate and prevent opportunities for them toreceive input. In an attempt to raise awareness of the rules of interaction, Peirce (1994, 1995) developedthe notion of Classroom Based Social Research in which she had female immigrants to Canada carry outan ethnographic study of their daily interactions in an attempt to better understand their learningenvironment. By having learners formalize their observations of their interactions with native speakersand by having them examine these interactions critically, Peirce felt that her learners became more awareof their Ågright to speakÅh and increased their sociolinguistic competence.

Goals

With this theoretical background, a curriculum for student ethnography was developed in the fall of 1999to prepare high school learners for and to help them process their observations during a short-termexchange. In the formative stages of the curriculum described below, there were four explicit goals. Thefirst was to help learners facilitate their understanding of target patterns of interaction. Related to thisobjective was the goal of having students collect data that could be used in their evaluation and discussionof their experience abroad. This was done in speaking classes and through a comparative essay followingthe exchange. A third pedagogical aim was to have students collect data in Japan that they could drawupon in their conversations with their host families. Finally, the semester-long project had the goal ofsensitizing learners to differences in the patterns of interaction both between the United States and Japanand within these cultures (e.g. discourse patterns at school vs. those at home).

Approach

These goals were met by having students observe and take notes on their lives in Japan and on theirexperiences abroad using an ethnographical approach. The process was presented in a graded manner thatbegan with a guided training session in a familiar context. Subsequent assignments were sequenced toprovide learners with increased autonomy. The students began the term with lessons about the reasoningbehind the ethnographical project. They were exposed to the communication problems that might arisewhen asked questions about their daily lives. For example, in this consciousness raising activity, studentsrealized the challenges that they would face in describing something as mundane as their father’s job. Tofacilitate learner description of their home context, the students were encouraged to make and recordobservations in Japan to create a clear folder containing descriptions file (Roth, 1997) that would helpfacilitate communication with their hosts. Through the process of ethnographic observations, learnerscreated a cultural archive which facilitated communication with their hosts.

In the orientation for the three-week homestay, the goal was for students to be able to explain inEnglish how they interact in specific contexts. These contexts were identified by the instructors as schoollife, family life, and teenage life. During the observations, they took notes in English or Japanese ofdetails such as time, quantities, locations, and definitive actions. Soon after the observation, these noteswere summarized in English with a fuller description of events, including liberal use of adjectives,

Churchill et.al.: A Curriculum for Student Ethnography


adverbs, and quotations. Both the notes and the summary were further expanded in journal entries thatincluded the students’ interpretations. The ethnographical observations were compiled in a presentableform for the clear file project. In this way, the students arrived in their homestay situations having had anopportunity to construct ideas in English about their identities in three different areas: school life, familylife, and teenage life.

The first training session was done during a 45-minute writing class. Students were given anexplanation of the activity and then divided into 2 groups. Each group took 10-minute turns observingpeers discussing the upcoming exchange while looking at picture books of their future host context.Although lacking authenticity, this activity provided a controlled, familiar setting for teachers to guidestudents in the note-taking process while they did their first observations. After each group did their 10-minute observation, students then had enough time to write a summary of their observation. The classclosed with a brief recap of what they just experienced and a note on how students would be able toextend the exercise in their future assignments. The second observation of school was done after theirreturn to Japan.

The learners also made observations of their family life on two occasions. Preparation—such asdrawing maps of their home, writing brief descriptions and outlining the daily schedules of the membersof their family—was done during class time. Then, students were told to observe their family at a timewhen everyone would be home together. Typically, the learners took notes around dinnertime, thusproviding them with an opportunity to observe patterns of interaction in their family.

The next set of ethnographical sketches was done at a popular teenage hangout. The studentswatched their peers doing activities in locations as diverse as fast food restaurants and game centers. Ourstudents began to understand the value of the fieldwork with this assignment. Their notes, summaries andjournals demonstrated a heightened interest in the activity and the depth of their interpretations of peerbehavior suggested increased investment. After these observations before the exchange, the students wereready to collect data during 6 more observations in similar contexts in the United States.

Another goal of the ethnographical observations was for students to collect data for writing acomparative essay. In the history of the homestay program, students have returned to Japan viewing theironce-familiar surroundings with a new perspective. As they are debriefed by their peers and family, theyhave a tendency to compare their experiences abroad with their home environments. Capturing anddeveloping these ideas in written form were the main objectives of the comparative essay. Theobservation notes taken in both countries in the similar contexts provided enough data to support thecomparative essay. The similarities of contexts also provided material for students to discuss and comparetheir experiences during speaking classes after the return home. In the end, many of the themes in thecomparative essays were those that had been co-constructed through conversations with classmates

To review the activities assigned throughout the term, the students did two observations each ofschool life, family life and teenage life in both Japan and in the United States. For each ethnographicalobservation, students collected notes that were then summarized. The learners then commented on theirobservations and summaries in journal entries. By the end of the homestay, students had completed 12ethnographical observations focusing on patterns of interaction. These observations and journal entriesthen served as a rich source of data for discussions in speaking classes and for writing a comparativeessay that was completed following the exchange.

Benefits

While the curriculum described above was but the first attempt at implementing a student-centeredethnography, we will undoubtedly work with a revised model in the future because of the numerousbenefits obtained from the project. The learners gained a heightened awareness of the patterns ofinteraction in the target language. They discovered, on their own, the benefits and drawbacks of beingassertive. The learners also commented on how their observations of their home environment made themthink more deeply about their daily lives. Several learners commented on how they appreciated theassignments in Japan because it allowed them to look at the usual in a new way. In this sense, theethnographic work done by the learners helped make the implicit explicit.



The observations and journal entries learners did in Japan also provided input that supporteddiscussions with homestay families about their life in Japan. Finally, for the learners, the observationsprovided a basis for a large amount of written and spoken output. Not only did the learners draw upontheir observations to share their home culture with their hosts, but, upon their return, the second-year highschool students also engaged in extensive discussions in English speaking classes and wrote ten-paragraph essays summarizing their observations during the exchange.

For teachers, the student ethnographies had the immediate benefit of allowing greater insight intolearners’ lives in their home culture. As the learners provided great detail about routines in the family andat school and commented on their field notes, teachers were able to see the world through the eyes of thelearners and thus better appreciate their perspectives. Another benefit for teachers was that theethnographic work that the learners did during their stay abroad suggested several ways in which learnerscan be better prepared for a short-term exchange.

Suggestions for Alternative Applications

While we believe the curriculum for student ethnography is particularly well suited to a short-termexchange program, there are other ways in which this approach can be applied in the Japanese context.For reasons alluded to above, we believe that learners and teachers alike can benefit from implementingsuch a curriculum. Students have a chance to look at their daily interactions at home, at school and at playin a different way. For students considering future employment alternatives, observations of potentialemployment locations (e.g., hotels, airports, travel agencies, etc.), and the codification of theseobservations through field notes and critical summaries could be encouraged by the language teacher. Ona smaller scale, learners could be asked to record notes and report on their part-time job context. Such anactivity could sensitize a class full of students to the different discourses that exist in the world.

Conclusion

In conclusion, an increasing number of Japanese students are studying abroad and experiencing socialinteractions that differ from those of their native culture. Student-based ethnographic research empowersstudents by formalizing their observations and raising awareness of patterns of interaction. This paper hasoutlined how students were trained to become ethnographers of their home and host environments. Threecontexts were identified as being common in both countries: school life, family life, and teenage life.Ethnographic work by the students in these contexts included observing others, writing notes and thensummarizing what they saw. The learners referenced their observations to compose journal entries, toshare their experiences in discussion with peers, and to write a comparative essay. We believe thatstudent-based ethnographic research increased their awareness not only of the target culture, but also oftheir home culture as well. Teachers gained insight into the learners’ perspectives. Furthermore, thelearner-centered approach to the exchange suggests ways to improve study-abroad programs. Given thebenefits of student-centered ethnographic research in the exchange context, it is likely that furtherapplication of this innovative approach to TEFL could lead to stimulating classroom discussions.



References

Agar, M. H. (1994). Language shock: Understanding the culture of conversation. New York: William &Morrow.

Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (Second ed.). Philadelphia, PA:Falmer.

Geis, K., & Fukushima, C. (1997). Overview of a study abroad course. The Language Teacher, 21 (11),15-20.

Iwakiri, M. (1993). Effects of a study abroad program on the English development of Japanese collegestudents. A 24 , 41-60.

Norton-Peirce, B. (1994). Using diaries in second language research and teaching. English Quarterly, 26(3), 22-29.

Norton-Peirce, B. (1995). Social identity, investment and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29 (1), 9-31.

Willet, J. (1995). Becoming first graders in an L2: An ethnographic study of L2 socialization. TESOLQuarterly, 29 (3), 473 - 503.

Roth, J. (1997). Homestay preparation: The clear file. The Language Teacher, 21 (11).



Part of our endeavor as language teachers, is teaching the linguistic skillsthat enable students to communicate comfortably with people of othercultures. However, teaching students the cultural aspects of language andhow to become effective intercultural communicators can be a challenge.The Patrick Moran framework (Moran, 1996) can assist teachers increating an environment which helps students learn to interact withpeople of other cultures, understand their own culture throughcomparison, and discover themselves in the process.

国際化は、異文化の理解と関心に対するより大きなニーズを生み出している。語学教師は、学生が目的文化を学習し、効果的な異文化コミュニケーターになることを助ける立場にある。本稿は、Patrick　Moran　の文化学習の枠組みの理論的根拠や実用的応用について検討している。1996年に　Patrick　Moran　　博士によって考案された枠組みでは、文化学習の過程を４つの「文化学習のやりとり」に分類している。この枠組みは、学習者が通過し、異文化への理解を深め、自文化と自分自身の理解を深める一連の段階を示している。筆者は、この枠組みのアウトラインを提示し、大学での実際の取り組みについて報告している。

Language and culture

As EFL teachers, we are particularly concerned with therelationship between culture and language, and its

role in the EFL classroom. It has been widelystated that language and culture are

interconnected and inseparable. Termssuch as linguaculture and

languaculture have been coined toexpress this symbiosis. Culture

has been referred to by linguistsand language teaching expertsas the fifth skill or fifthdimension, making it afundamental element to anintegrated skills curriculum.Scarcella and Oxford pointout that language is a

primary symbol system forinterpreting the world around

us, and a “vehicle forexplaining or expressing

culture” (1992, p.183).Therefore, they conclude that

language is an essential componentof culture. Similarly, Damen asserts

that, “Culture is transmitted in great partthrough language; cultural patterns in turn

are reflected in language” (1987, p.97). Thus,in order for foreign language students to communicate

proficiently in the L2, a basic understanding of the link betweenlanguage and culture is necessary.

Valerie Hansford,Mary Sandkamp,

and JaimieScanlon

Asia University, CELE

“CulturalKnowings”:The Patrick

MoranFramework


Building communicative competence

Current language teaching approaches stress the importance of communicative, student-centered classesand the need to help students develop communicative competence. Damen (1987, p.102) states thatlinguists, anthropologists and teachers have defined communicative competence as “. . . the skill to knowwhat to say, when to say it, to whom to say it, and how. Language [is] social behavior, the speaker asociocultural entity.” The linguistic skills of vocabulary, grammar structures and functions are allnecessary parts of what we teach; however, without cultural context, language is reduced to lifeless formsin a textbook or on the blackboard. Students need a sense of the behaviors, values and beliefs of the nativespeakers of the language in order to communicate effectively. Having determined that a culturalcomponent is important to language programs, we are left with the question of how to incorporate it intoour lessons. Teachers need a way to structure material and weave culture into their course syllabi, ratherthan viewing it as a separate activity, apart from regular coursework.

Cultural Learning Models

As Paige, Jorstad, Siaya, Klein, and Colby (1998) state, “a substantial amount of important writing onculture learning exists, much of which is completely unrelated to language education.” Models, such asMilton Bennett’s stages of cultural adjustment, focus primarily on the adaptation of individuals living inforeign cultures. More research on culture learning within the language classroom is slowly emerging,such as the Conceptual Model of Culture Learning (Paige et al., 1998). In general, however, the literatureoffers much more on the theoretical aspects of intercultural concepts and little practical guidance forlanguage teachers. In contrast to the above theoretical models, the Patrick Moran framework includes thecultural learning aspect while further defining the role of the teacher in the classroom and offeringconcrete practical approaches.

Overview of the Patrick Moran Framework

The framework (adapted from Scanlon, 1998) divides the process of learning culture into four culturelearning interactions: (a) culture as knowing about, (b) culture as knowing how, (c) culture as knowingwhy, (d) culture as knowing oneself. The table below illustrates the four interactions and their associatedtypes of activities.

Table 1: Interactions and Activities.

Knowing About Knowing How Knowing Why Knowing Oneself

Students learn facts Students experience and Students interpret Students reflectabout the culture. interact in a behaviors, explore on their own attitudes

realistic context. possible explanations, and analyzecompare and contrast. their reactions.

Discussion of the cultural learning interactions“Culture as knowing about,” deals with aspects of any culture that can be learned cognitively. Thisinformation may consist of facts about geography, history, customs, holidays, etc. Activities and materialsfor the lesson may include readings, video clips, personal anecdotes, and objects from the culture. Therole of the teacher in this stage is to provide information about the culture.

“Culture as knowing how,” is more experiential and interactive, and can be the most lively,enjoyable aspect of a unit. The teacher acts as a coach or model. Through activities such as role-plays,simulations, and out-of-class experiences, students put the learned information to use and give thelanguage a life of its own. The rationale for this stage is that for learners to communicate effectively, theyneed to experience interacting in the manner of members of the target culture. Adapting their behavior to

Hansford et. al.: Cultural Knowings: The Patrick Moran Framework


suit cultural expectations can help learners develop these skills and become proficient and confident.“Culture as knowing why” is where learners begin to develop an understanding of the underlying

values and attitudes of the culture. The rationale is that learners need to understand the thought behind theaction and give reason to the behavior. A simple set of behavioral rules may be enough to survivesuccessfully in another culture, but a deeper analysis of the reasons why—an inquiry into the attitudes ofa culture that explain certain behaviors—is helpful as a bridge to “culture as knowing oneself”. Theobjective is to interpret behavior and explore possibilities for explanations rather than to look for clearanswers, as there may be no simple explanation for a given behavior. Here, teachers act as co-researchers,guiding students to be curious and question a behavior, and then compare that behavior with their ownculture. Students question behavior and try to understand rather than observe and make judgments. Short,reflective writing assignments and small group discussions are effective teaching tools in this stage.

In the “culture as knowing oneself” interaction, students enter a world of self-discovery based onlearning about another culture and comparing it to their own culture. Activities provide students with anopportunity to explore their own feelings and reactions to a given aspect of another culture. During theseactivities, the teacher acts as a counselor or guide. Through this process, students learn to analyze theattitudes and values of their own culture. In so doing, they also come to a better understanding of theirpersonal attitudes and values, and develop a sense of self-awareness. The rationale is that if learners havea strong sense of themselves as members of a culture and understand their own personal and culturalvalues, they should be better able to adapt to or accept another culture to the extent to which they choose.

Applying the Framework

While some teachers may include culture in their classes, they often stay on the surface of the topic, notproviding students with time for deeper reflection or comparison. Through the framework, teachers cansee how lessons could be made more balanced and engaging by presenting the material in a variety ofways. The framework allows teachers to maximize the potential of a language lesson by taking it to adeeper level and approaching it from different angles.

Three cultural units incorporating the framework:This section includes descriptions of three culture units, showing views of how three teachers adapted theframework to suit their own objectives. Following each unit summary, is a visual representation of theframework and how it was incorporated into the lessons. Although all interactions are included within theunit, an individual lesson may address each interaction separately or in various combinations andsequences.

Unit One: Introducing a Culture Component Early in the Course.A topic often addressed at the beginning of a course is greetings and introductions. As greeting styles tendto vary from culture to culture, this is an opportunity to weave in a cultural component early in the course.The framework can serve as a guide to bring this common language point to a deeper level and extract thecultural components. This unit on greetings and small talk spanned four lessons. Language objectivesincluded basic skills for self-introductions and, maintaining and closing a conversation. Culturalobjectives related to those skills dealt with shaking hands, making eye contact, exploring similarities anddifferences between Japanese and North American style small talk, and asking and respondingappropriately to small talk questions.



Figure 1: A visual summary of unit activities

Knowing AboutStudents learn:

• some handshakes are appropriate and inappropriate.• Eye contact is important in North American introductions.• appropriate timing for a handshake in an introduction.• reasons why small talk is important.• appropriate and inappropriate small talk questions.• ways to respond to inappropriate personal questions.

Knowing HowStudents experience:

• shaking hands in a variety of styles.• “comfortable” handshakes and “uncomfortable” handshakes.• making a natural, appropriate self-introduction in English.• North American style small talk interaction.• asking and responding to appropriate and inappropriate questions.

Knowing WhyStudents explore:

• reasons why some topics may be considered polite or impolite by North Americansor Japanese.

• values behind the handshake and the bow.

Knowing OneselfStudents reflect upon:

• how the bow is used in different situations.• their feelings and attitudes toward doing a North American style greeting.• similarities and differences between Japanese and North American style small talk.• their own reactions towards using a North American communication style.• Cultural and personal values regarding taboo topics.

Unit Two: Setting a Cultural Context for Classroom Participation.Many EFL teachers address the topic of different classroom interaction styles. Helping students to graspthis concept can be a challenge. In this unit, video clips provided a visual context. The unit focused onnonverbal communication in Japanese and American classrooms. Classroom video clips used were fromthe Japanese school drama: “3-Nen B-gumi Kinpachi Sensei,” and from two American movies: “TheMirror has Two Faces” and “Dead Poets Society.” These clips portray students actively participating inboth Japanese and American classrooms. Each lesson included pre-, during, and post- activities for videoviewing.



Figure 2: A visual summary of unit activities.


• different types of nonverbal behavior used in American classrooms.• different classroom interaction styles.• how nonverbal communication varies between Japanese and American Classrooms.


• acting out American and Japanese nonverbals in the classroom.


• meanings of non-verbal expressions in Japanese and American classrooms.


• their experiences in a Japanese classroom setting.• Japanese nonverbal communication in the classroom.• similarities and differences between Japanese and American nonverbal communication.• their personal use of nonverbal behaviors.• their feelings towards using American and Japanese style non-verbal

language in the classroom.

Unit Three: Weaving Culture into the Textbook.It is rare to find a textbook that offers a cultural component or suggestions for incorporating culture intothe lesson plans. This is a challenge faced by many teachers desiring to integrate culture into the coursesyllabus. In this unit, the framework helped one of the authors weave culture into a textbook-based unitand provided a realistic context for the use of the language structure being studied. While there were anumber of aspects to the textbook, the function of apologizing was selected to give a specific focus andbecause apologizing varies from culture to culture in manner, style, and timing. Cultural objectivesincluded identifying and exploring similarities and differences between Japanese and North Americanstyles of apologizing, including when to apologize. Also, appropriate non-verbal behaviors for each of thestyles were explored. Finally, students reflected upon their own feelings, attitudes and values regardingapologies.



Figure 3: A visual summary of unit activities


• different styles of apologies.• North American style apologies.• patterns for using because and so.• components of North American style apologies.• appropriate North American verbal and non-verbal behaviors for apologies.• appropriate Japanese verbal and non-verbal behaviors for apologies.


• creating apologies for different situations.• making North American style apologies.• apologizing in both North American and Japanese styles in the same situation.


• reasons for the North American style apologies.• reasons for their own cultural style apologies.• culturally appropriate North American and Japanese non-verbal behaviors

for giving apologies.


• their own ways to apologize.• their own culture’s attitudes and values regarding apologizing.• their own feelings, attitudes, and values regarding giving apologies.

Challenges and Caveats

While working with the Patrick Moran framework was an overall positive experience for the authors ofthis paper, teachers wishing to use the framework themselves should consider the following factors.Success of some of the activities depends greatly on students’ language ability, especially in the knowingwhy and knowing oneself stages. Students may be able to express such complex concepts in their ownlanguage; however, their target language skills may simply not be up to it. We found this factor limiting inthe depth to which we could take discussions or assignments.

Secondly, the role of the teacher as co-researcher or guide in the knowing why phase, seemedambiguous. For example, encouraging students to question, naturally led students to want answers. Attimes, students arrived at valid conclusions about the target culture, e.g. North Americans like to beindependent while Japanese prefer to be in a group. At this time it was difficult to stay in the role of co-researcher and not to say “Yes! You’ve got it!” but rather, “Maybe, let’s keep guessing.” We think, inthese cases, that teachers ought to feel flexible in their role. This could be an opportunity for the teacher(as a co-researcher) to offer other possibilities such as intercultural concepts (e.g. individualism versusgroup orientation). Thus, the teacher returns to the knowing about stage, presenting related concepts tofacilitate continued exploration.



Conclusion

For students to communicate effectively in a second or foreign language, they need skills to communicateappropriately for a given context. This involves learning the cultural rules governing how native speakersuse the language, in addition to vocabulary, grammar structures, and functions. For the authors, thePatrick Moran framework became a guide to focus lesson planning. The framework allows a givencultural aspect to be presented clearly. It also affords the opportunity for students’ cultural views to beexpressed and valued.

Through careful activity structuring, teachers can encourage students to observe and try to under-stand cultural differences, rather than to observe and make judgments about another culture. For somestudents, the process of probing deeply into another culture may lead to a more profound understanding oftheir own attitudes and values. We offer the Patrick Moran framework as a way for teachers to take theirlanguage lessons deeper, to expand and maximize the potential of one topic or activity and to help makethe inclusion of culture a less daunting endeavor in the future.

References

Damen, Louise. (1987). Cultural learning: The fifth dimension in the language classroom, Addison-Wesley Inc.

Moran, Patrick. (1996). “A Framework for Learning/Teaching Culture and Foreign Languages,” Unpub-lished paper, School for International Training, Brattleboro, VT.

Paige, R. Michael; Jorstad, Helen; Siaya, Laura; Klein, Francine; and Colby, Jeanette. (1998). CultureLearning in Language Education: A Review of the Literature, In culture as the core: Integrating cul-ture into second language classrooms, The Carla Working Paper Series #11, [Online]. Center forAdvanced Research on Language Acquisition. Retrieved (2001, January 2) Available: http//Carla.acad.umn.edu/CARLA.html

Scanlon, Jaimie. (1998). Developing cultural awareness in the language classroom, In perspectives onsecondary school EFL education, Kahny, J. and James, M. (Eds.), Language Institute of Japan,Odawara.

Seelye, H. Ned, (1996). Experiential activities for intercultural learning, Intercultural Press. Yarmouth.ME.

Scarcella, Robin and Oxford, Rebecca, (1992). The tapestry of language learning: The individual in thecommunicative classroom, Heinle & Heinle. Boston, MA.



Although cultural understanding cannot be solely taught in theclassroom, language teachers have a responsibility to include culture asan element of language courses. In this presentation, we explained theconcept of cultural texture as a useful framework and demonstrated arange of practical techniques that we have found to be successful forteaching culture in the language classroom.

21世紀を迎え、我々が様々な国々の人々と関わる機会が増えていることは、明らかである。目まぐるしく変化しつつある世界の緊張緩和のために、異文化理解の重要性は、高まるばかりである。異文化を授業の中だけで教えることは不可能であるが、外国語教師は、異文化理解を授業の中に取り入れるべきである。こうした考え方は、以前から提唱されてきたが、実際の授業で文化を教えることは、相変わらず軽視されてきた（Omaggio,1993参照）。Omaggioは、その理由として、教師の時間不足、文化のどの側面を教えたらいいのか分からないこと、教え方の技術不足などを上げている。我々は、効果的な指導技術のデモンストレーションを行い、授業の中で異文化理解をどのように進めるのかについて発表した。

Techniques in the Culture-Based Classroom

As we move into the new century, we see ever-increasing numbers ofpeople coming into contact with other cultures. In order to avoid cultural

tension, there is a need for increased understanding of other culturesand a heightened awareness of how much we are a

product of our own culture. Although culturalunderstanding cannot be solely taught in the

classroom, language teachers have aresponsibility to include culture as an

element of courses. This has long beenconsidered to be true by most

teachers, but the teaching of culturehas remained “insubstantial andsporadic in most languageclassrooms” (Omaggio, 1993, p.357). Omaggio gives severalreasons for this including lackof time, uncertainty aboutwhich aspects of culture to

teach, and lack of practicaltechniques. In our presentation,

we tried to answer these concernsby explaining the concept of

cultural texture as a usefulframework and demonstrating a

range of practical techniques that wehave found to be successful for teaching

culture in the language classroom.

Creating cultural texture

Oxford (1994) has used the term cultural texture to describethe many aspects of culture that we need to teach to our students. We liketo keep this concept in mind when we are teaching culture. To achievethis texture in our teaching, we believe that it is necessary to vary threedifferent parameters:

Techniquesin the

Culture-BasedClassroom

Brian CullenNagoya Institute of

Technology.Kazuyoshi Sato

Nagoya University ofForeign Studies


1. Information sourceThe cultural information used in our classrooms should come from different sources.This can come from authentic sources such as videos, television, books, picture,menus or secondary sources such as EFL textbooks. Information can also comefrom the teacher or from the students. By varying the information source, we givestudents a well-textured view of culture and address different learning styles. Evenwithin a single lesson, teachers can easily use different materials to vary theinformation source.

2. Activity typeActivity type refers to quizzes, reformulation, noticing, prediction, games, singing,field trips and so on. Varying activity type is useful for maintaining the pace of anyclass. In the culture classroom, it has added advantages. When students learn a newculture, they may need to accommodate new cognitive and behavioral styles. Japanesestudents who are used to lecture-style courses can learn these styles from differentexperiential activities. A reading can inform a student about a culture, but a song,guest speaker, or field trip can offer the personal view of someone within that culture.

3. Selling pointWe also need to sell the culture to our students using a variety of approaches. We canshow the attractive and the shocking, the old and the new, or stated beliefs andactual behavior. A culture is not a monolith and different selling points can stopstudents adapting easy stereotypes. A fuller development of the concept of culturaltexture can be found in Cullen and Sato (2000).

Practical Tips

These are tips that we have picked up over the years. Some of these will be obvious for teachers, butsometimes, it is a good idea to review the obvious.

1. Use a suitable level of language difficulty.2. Make the course interesting. The relevance of a foreign culture is not always

clear.3. Don’t try to cover everything. Select a few areas and develop cultural texture.4. Personalize culture by relating it to the student’s lives. Use prediction, guessing,

and other techniques to involve students more deeply.5. Have students share comments about the culture.6. Use students’ knowledge.7. Share your own experience with students.8. Motivate students through mini research projects, field trips etc.9. Use authentic materials when possible.10. Use hands-on activities in pairs and groups.11. Integrate content with learning strategies: teach how to learn culture.12. Use different information sources and activity types to build up sequences of

learning steps.13. Learn your students’ language and culture and understand your own cultural

baggage.

These practical tips and the development of cultural texture were demonstrated by focusing onAustralian culture (Sato) and Irish culture (Cullen). In the workshop, the 50 participants took the role ofstudents.

Cullen et. al.: Techniques in the Culture-based Classroom


Australian Culture

Sato demonstrated many of the practical tips listed above by engaging the participants in a range ofactivities. He started off with a short quiz. We believe that quizzes are one of the most successful activitytypes. They can be used to test, but are also useful in teaching new information. Sato gave a quiz (mainlytrue or false) on Australia to the students. Students first worked on the questions individually and thengroups came to an agreement on each item. Questions included a range of content such as “Which is theAustralian flag?” “The population of Australia is smaller than that of Tokyo,” and “Koala is an Aboriginalword, meaning “It does not drink water.” Following this, Sato kept the same quiz activity, but changedinformation source by showing Australian TV commercials and giving more questions. Groups kept scoreand enjoyed the competitive atmosphere.

Next, Sato passed around action logs and explained their use in teaching culture. After each class,students write logs which include the date, their English target (%) and English used (%), today’s partner,an evaluation of each activity by using an interesting and a useful scale, and comments about what theylearned and liked (see Murphey, 1997). The importance of personalization and student comments wasshown by extracts such as “I like Quiz very much because I can learn a lot of new things about Australia.”

Sato also demonstrated a newsletter consisting of students’ comments that worked well in class asstudents became absorbed in reading other classmates’ comments. Some students were happy to find theirown comments, while others started to write more comments in their next action logs. Students alsoshared their own experiences in foreign countries in action logs in comments such as: “Before I went toAustralia, I had been taught that Japanese killed many Australian soldiers. So, host mom’s father thoughtthat I was very bad Japanese. But by talking with me, he changed his mind.”

Stimulated by getting such information from fellow students in newsletter and group work, studentsbegan to learn from other classmates and learn how to learn culture. They appreciated the opportunities touse English in-group work; for example, “I worked with my friend at pair work. We talked about ournews at first. I enjoyed it so much! We didn’t use Japanese at all. . . .I enjoyed this lesson so much!” Asstudents shared comments and experiences about the new culture, both their English and culturalunderstanding developed.

Irish Culture

Cullen continued to illustrate the practical techniques, but also demonstrated the concept of culturaltexture by using a variety of different activities, information sources, and selling points to introducereligious and moral issues in modern Ireland. First, participants received different readings, both quiteshort, about religious and moral issues in Ireland. One described people’s changing attitudes towardsdivorce. The other examined the difference between people’s stated religious behavior and their actualbehavior. After being given one minute to read, the participants were asked to tell their partner(s) whatthey had learnt without looking at the reading. This simple but powerful technique is called reformulation.Reformulation is a very useful tool in content-based instruction where students are learning both contentand language. By repeating the content in their own words, they develop their interlanguage andsimultaneously retain the content more effectively. Reformulation can also be used for longer readings.Students can be asked to do the readings, take notes, and to reformulate from their notes in the next class.Reformulation is also effective after a video or story. Through reformulation, students check what theyhave learnt, find out things that they have missed from their partner, and improve their language bynoticing gaps in their own ability to explain.

Next, Cullen introduced a short prediction activity. Prediction is a useful activity for engaginginterest. Participants guessed young Irish people’s attitudes about sex, divorce, marriage and other moral/religious issues as recorded in a recent survey. These universal issues enabled participants to personalizethe content. This survey gave a new perspective to the readings. Differences in information source,activity type and selling point between the readings and survey showed the importance of cultural texturein avoiding the portrayal of the culture as a monolithic unit. Finally, participants also did a short quiz andlearned an old Irish song which addressed the same moral issues humorously and succeeded in addingmore layers of cultural texture to the topic.



Conclusion

Teaching culture is an important element of language teaching, especially as we move into a moreinternational world. In this presentation, we showed how the teaching of culture can be a very practical,interactive, and enjoyable endeavor. We also showed how the simple concept of cultural texture canprovide a practical framework for teaching culture effectively within short periods of time. Even withinthis short 45-minute presentation, we were able to develop cultural texture for the target culture ofAustralia and Ireland through a series of different activities, information sources, and selling points.Similarly, every teacher can use short periods of class to convey the richness of a foreign culture, teachstudents how to learn culture, and ultimately help them to develop greater cultural understanding.

References

Alatis J. (Ed.) (1994). Georgetown University Round Table on Language and Linguistics 1994 (pp. 26-45). Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.

Cullen, B. and Sato, K. (2000). Practical techniques for teaching culture in the EFL classroom. TheInternet TESL Journal, 2000/12. <www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Techniques/Cullen-Culture.html>.

Murphey, T. (1997). Content-based instruction in an EFL setting: Issues and strategies. In M.A.

Snow & D.M. Brinton (Eds.). The content-based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language andcontent (pp. 117-131). New York: Addison Wesley Longman.

Omaggio-Hadley, A.(1993). Teaching language in context. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

Oxford, R. L. (1994). Teaching culture in the language classroom: Towards a new philosophy. In J.

Seelye, H. N. (1993). Teaching culture: Strategies for intercultural communication (2nd ed.).Lincolnwood, Ill: National Textbook Company.



Section Six

ThePracticalTeacher


本稿の目的は、日本語教育用に開発したショートエクササイズを紹介することにある。まず、ショートエクササイズの基本理念と特徴、実施例を説明し、2000年11月5日のワークショップで実施したエクササイズ「いくつ」の実際を紹介する。更に、ワークショップ体験者の感想も紹介する。

In this paper the authors discuss the use of short exercises for JSL classes.First, the authors will present the concept and distinctive features of theshort exercises. They will then demonstrate the exercise "Ikutsu" (Howmany) which was originally introduced in a workshop on Nov. 5th.

はじめにＪＳＬの授業において確認される問題のひとつに、学習者の

情意的問題、例えば、人間関係、集中力の欠如、精神的疲労等がある。学習者の情意的側面についてオックスフォードは言語学習を支える間接ストラテジーの中に情意的ストラテジー要素の存在を認め、「学習の情意的側面は言語学習が成功するか失敗するかに一番大きな影響を与えるものの一つである」と述べている（オックスフォード1994：119)。そこで、学習目標に情意的目標を加えたショートエクササイズの開発を試みた。　　

本稿の目的は、『エンカウンターで学級が変わる・ショートエクササイズ集』（図書文化、1999)を基に、日本語

教育用にアレンジしたエクササイズの基本理念と特徴の説明、2000年11月5日のワー

クショップで実施したエクササイズ「いくつ」の実際の紹介、及び、体

験者の感想を紹介することにある。

１. ショートエクササイズとは何かショートエクササイズとは構成的グループ・エンカウンター(StructuredGroup Encounter :　以下SGEと略す）の理念を基本にしている。SGEとは「集団の育成を通して個

を育てる」ことを目的とし、６つの要素（１. 自己

理解、２. 他者理解、３. 自己受容、４.信頼体験、５.感

受性の促進、６. 自己主張）をエクササイズで体験するも

のである。日本語教育におけるショートエクササイズは、目標を

言語面と情意面の両面に置き、協同学習としてのグループ力を活用し、短時間

で実施可能なエクササイズで、（１）準備に時間がかからないか、（２）実施時間が短い（実施所

用時間が５分から１０分）、という特徴を持つ。また、すきま時間（授業開始時直後、授業終了時直前や、長い授業の合間の気分転換時）の活用という利点を持つ。　しかし、SGEは単に楽しければいいというゲームではない。

斉木ゆかり東海大学留学生教育セター

林伸一山口大学人文学科

石田孝子群馬大学留学生センタ-

二宮喜代子山口大学非常勤講師

日本語教育のためのショート

エクササイズ


他者理解、自己理解、コミュニケーション活動をねらいとするエクササイズと、シェアリング（sharing、振り返り、分かち合い）の束である。他者理解と自己理解を基盤にコミュニケーションを促進することにより、他者にも、自分にも非寛大な態度を修正する機会が得られ、他者にも自分にも優しくなれる。エクササイズの実施と同様に重要なことはシェアリングを行うことである。

シェアリングの意義には以下の10項目がある。（１）他者を理解する、（２）自己を理解する、（３）共感的理解を得る、（４）自己主

張ができる、（５）グループとしての共感化と結束性を得る、（６）新たな自分自身の一面に気づく、（７）傾聴できるようになる、（８）体験が言語化できる、（９）自己肯定度が高まる、（１０）他者を尊重する、

また、シェアリングは学習者のためだけでなく、教師側にとっては、エクササイズの点検・評価につながる。シェアリングは全員で行う場合や、「気づき・感想カード」を活用する場合がある。

２.　エクササイズの実際ワークショップで行った６つのエクササイズの中から、本稿では、「いくつ」を紹介す

る。本エクササイズは『エンカウンターで学級が変わる　ショートエクササイズ集』（国分監修1999）から取り上げている。ここに収録されているエクササイズは時

間に追われる現代人が心とこころの触れ合いを短時間で構成していくために考案されている。発表者は、このエクササイズに修正を施して、日本語学習の場に取り入れた試みについて、紹介した。そして、実施後、シェアリングを通して、本エクササイズがどのように日本語教育に役立つのか、また実施の際の問題や課題は何かについてを参加者と共に考えた。

エクササイズ「いくつ」（p144-145）

情意的目的：１. 自己理解と自己受容を促し、自己肯定感を持たせる２. 他者認識を促し、受容的・共感的態度を養う

学習目標：１. 人物描写に関する語彙・表現を拡大する２. 説明を求め、理由を述べる表現・文型が使える３. 既習の語彙や文型を使いコミュニケーションを図る

提示文型：１. どうして…んですか。（説明を求める）２. ～から・ので、～だと思います。～ではないかと思いました（理由）

学習者レベル：中級以上、時間：１５分、用意するもの：ワーク･シート、タイマー実施手順：１. ワーク・シートに氏名を記入し、自己イメージに合うものを４つ選んで☆を塗

りつぶす。（２分）２. 次に隣の人にワーク・シートを回し、書かれた氏名の人のイメ―ジに合う言葉　

　を４つ選んで☆を塗りつぶしていく。（８分）　　　　３. 最後に、記入してもらったワーク・シートを戻してもらい、自分が塗りつぶし　

　た☆と他の人が塗りつぶしてくれた☆を比較して、感想を述べ合う。（５分）

Saiki et.al., Short Exercises for JSL


ワークシート例★いくつ

氏名( )

A B C D①知的な　 ☆　☆　☆　☆②真面目な ☆　☆　☆　☆③明るい　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆④無邪気な　　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑤おもしろい　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑥おおらかな　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑦控えめな　　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑧意志が強い　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑨穏やかな　　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑩誠実な　　　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑪親切な　　　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑫やさしい　　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑬素朴な　　　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑭正直な　　　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆⑮がまん強い　　　　 ☆　☆　☆　☆

留意点：１. 学習者のレベルによっては、まず「性格を表す言葉」をブレイン･ストーミングし　　てマインド・マップ(石田, 1994)などを作成してみると日本語教育としてのエク　　ササイズ実施の目的が明確化される。また、ワーク・シートに取り上げられた言葉　　の意味確認を実施しなければならない場合もある。２. ワーク・シートに示す語彙・表現は肯定的なイメージのものに限定しておく方がよ　　い。解説：このエクササイズを実施することによって、自己理解と他者による認識を比べることで自分の良さを再認識したり、自分のがんばるところを明らかにする（p 1 4 4 ）ことができる。また人の性格や性質を表す形容詞や表現の学習として、初級の日本語テキストでカバーされていない項目がカバーできる。３.　エクササイズ体験者の意見エクササイズ「いくつ」の実施後のシェアリングでは、以下のような意見が出された。意見を内容別に分類すると以下のようになる。

＜エクササイズの内容について＞

○自分が予期していなかった性格に印が付けられると、うれしい。○「性格を表す言葉」は男女、出身国・地域、文化背景などによって、プラスにも

マイナスにも解釈される可能性がある。○ワークシートに書かれていた言葉の反対の意味をすぐ考えてしまった。○他者が全員同じ判断をしている私の性格は、自分ではそう見えないようにと思っ

ているものだっただけにショックだった。

＜ワークシートについて＞○「性格を表す言葉」がポジテイブな語でよかった。○他の人が付けた印を見ると、自分の判断にバイアスがかかる。



○他の人の判断が見えないような工夫をするとよい。○全部正直に印が付けられなかった。

シェアリングにおける参加者の意見からわかることは、このエクササイズによって、自己への気づきと、他者への配慮をしている自己を感じとったということである。

また、ワークショップ全体に関するふりかえりのアンケートをとったところ以下のような結果がでた。

＜選択式アンケート＞　（５…よくあてはまる、１…まったくあてはまらない）（１）今日のエクササイズは楽しかった（５：４名、３：１名）（２）今日のエクササイズは自分のためになった（５：３名、３：２名）（３）今まで気がつかなかった自分の新しい一面が発見できた（４：１名、３：３

名、２：１名）（４）今まで気がつかなかった友だちの新しい一面が発見できた５：２名、３：２

名、２：１名）（５）エクササイズに積極的に取り組むことができた（５：４名、３：１名）

＜コメント＞○大変楽しく参加できた。○カウンセリングを取り入れながら行う言語教育にとても興味を持っていたので、

今日は楽しく参加でき、また、勉強できた。○短いエクササイズで、シェアリングもそんなに複雑じゃなさそうなので、使って

みたい。○自分を表現できることは楽しく満足できると思った。ただ、学生によっては、言

語能力が充分じゃないため、表現しきれず、フラストレーションが少したまることもあるかもしれないと、感じた。勉強意欲につながればいいが……。

参加者のほとんどがエクササイズを楽しいと評価し、また自分のためになるととらえた。そのため、積極的に参加したと答えた。一方、自分自身は楽しく満足できたが、表現能力の足りない学習者の場合の使用に疑問がわく、という意見も見られた。これについては、教師がどこまでの表現を学習者に期待するかによると考えられる。初級の学習者と上級の学習者とでは、エクササイズの目標、提示文型、そして方法も、自ずと変わる。留意すべき点は、学習者の能力に合わせ、エクササイズのイントロダクションを工夫して、提示する語数を調節することである。そして、学習者が無理なくエクササイズに参加できるようにワークシートを改良することである。

おわりに本稿では構成的S.G.E.を基本にしたショートエクササイズの基本理念と特徴を説明し、11

月のワークショップで実施したエクササイズ「いくつ」の実際を紹介し、体験者の感想を紹介した。このワークショップでエクササイズ「いくつ」を体験した参加者たちは、自己理解、他者理解、共感的理解、自己主張、自己再発見、他者尊重を感じたと述べた。このことから、ショートエクササイズ「いくつ」はエクササイズの情意的目標（自己理解、自己受容、他者認識、他者理解）をある程度達成したと言えるだろう。



【　引用文献　】

国分康孝監修（１９９９）『エンカウンターで学級が変わる　ショートエクササイズ集』図書文化

石田孝子（１９９４）「マインドマッピングを活用した日本語学習の事例研究」『教育学研究紀要』第４０巻　第２部　pp.503―508　中国四国教育学会

【　参考文献　】

石田孝子（２０００）「構成的グループ・エンカウンターと日本語教育－日本語教育を通して異文化理解を深めるために－」『広島大学留学生教育』第４号、 pp.37－45　広島大学留学生センター　

国分康孝監修（１９９６）『エンカウンターで学級が変わる―中学校編―』誠信書房



This paper is a summary of five studies with Japanese college studentsand the use of audiotapes. The studies were designed to see if havingaccess to the written transcript of a taped passage would help in generalpassage comprehension, and if so, if there might be a preferablepresentation order. In general, the results indicate that with easy passages(for a particular group of learners) the use of transcripts is unnecessary.With more difficulty passages, however, transcripts do help the learnersin understanding. Allowing the learners a silent period to read over thetranscript, either before or after listening to the tape, works better thanother procedures in assuring passage understanding.

この報告は、日本の大学で行なったテ－プ台本の使用についての5 つの研究結果である。

EFLのほとんどの指導書は、テ－プ台本をつけている。この研究は、学習者の理解を助けるか、また、もしそうならば理想的なテ－プ台本の出し方があるのかを決めるものである。一般的に簡単な( 教材の）場合はテ－プ台本は必要なく、難しい( 教材の）場合は、とても役立つ。さらに、黙読の時間を前にもつか、もしくは、後にもつと、他の提示の仕方よりも有効である。

Introduction

Almost all commercial EFL textbooks published today comewith recorded material, be it cassette, CD, or even

video. Many of these materials also providetranscripts of the taped materials. Does

the use of such transcripts promotesecond language acquisition? If so, is

there a preferred presentation order?Should we have the learners look

at them before listening, duringlistening, or perhaps afterlistening? Which procedureleads to better passageunderstanding, and thereforemore second languageacquisition (Krashen, 1985)?A quick review of the EFL

literature revealed no studiesdealing with these questions.

Therefore, we undertook aseries of studies to help

determine if the use oftranscripts helps in passage

comprehension. A summary ofthese studies is presented here.

The original study of transcript use

In January 2000, 331 college undergraduatestaking required English courses were given a four-part

listening test. The materials consisted of four conversational passages,followed by listening comprehension questions. Each passage was readaloud by the teacher/researcher, followed immediately by a series ofsixteen true false questions (64 items in all). The students were asked to

Michael RedfieldOsaka University of

EconomicsSteven Larsen

Kwansei Gakuin University

TheUse of

Transcripts withAudiotapes: Five

StatisticalStudies


look at the written transcripts for the first and third passages. The passages were divided into two groups.The first group contained two consecutive passages taken from one section of the text, the second of twoconsecutive passages taken from a later section of the textbook. Within each section, both passages wereof approximately the same length and reading difficulty.

The first thing we did was examine the distributions. We noticed immediately that the scores weredistributed along a wide range. This led us to the idea of looking at the higher and lower level learnersseparately. Taking the median score of 47, we grouped all those scoring 48 and above in one group(higher level learners), and those scoring 46 and below in another (lower level learners). We then ran thenonparametric Mann Whitney U Tests on each group to see if the use of the written transcripts helped inpassage comprehension.

Higher level scores

The higher level learners averaged 53.55 on the test as a whole (see Table one). On the first set of scores,our Mann Whitney U Test yielded a U of 11790, with a probability of 0.6073. On the second set of scores,the corresponding figures were 12686 and 0.1000. There were no statistically significant differencesbetween the with and without transcript passages. In other words, taking only those learners who scoredin the upper half on the test, the availability of transcripts did not help in passage comprehension. Withthese easy materials, the use of written transcripts proved unnecessary.

Table One: Descriptive Statistics for Higher Level Learners

N X SD SEM

1 with 151 12.70 1.87 0.1520991 w/o 151 12.79 1.89 0.1541102 with 151 14.25 1.45 0.1177302 w/o 151 13.81 1.87 0.151928

Lower level scores

The lower level learners averaged 40.55 on the test as a whole (see Table two). The Mann Whitney UTests yielded Us of 20798 and 15955, with a probability of 0.0001 and 0.0069. With these lower levelscores, there were statistically significant differences between the with and without transcript passages.Contrary to our expectations however, the use of transcripts apparently hindered these lower levellisteners. In both sets of passages, these learners did better without the ‘benefit’ of transcripts.

Table Two: Descriptive Statistics for Lower Level Learners

N X SD SEM

1 with 165 8.84 2.26 0.1762491 w/0 165 11.32 2.65 0.2059372 with 165 9.78 2.77 0.2153312 w/o 165 10.61 2.46 0.191387

To summarize the results of our original study, higher level learners did just as well with andwithout access to the written passage transcripts. To us this indicates that if the level of the listening fallswithin a given range of learners, then the use of written transcripts is not necessary in order to improve

Redfield et.al.: The Use of Transcripts with Audiotapes...


passage understanding. The lower level learners, however, did better without transcripts, a result that begsfurther investigation.

The Kansai University studies

The first two studies in this series were conducted at the faculty of engineering of Kansai University,using intact classes of freshmen taking required English. The second two involve sophomores from thefaculty of social science at the same university. The studies were designed to test if the use of transcriptshelps in comprehension of listening passages, and if so, what would be the preferred presentationprocedure. We will look at the studies in order of occurrence.

First tech study: This study looked at presentation order with easy texts.

Participants. Ninety-eight first year technology majors took part in the study. The participants wereaccustomed to doing listening exercises in the classroom and to the test format. The study was conductedat the end of the 1999/2000 academic year.

Materials. Five conversational passages from the elementary EFL textbook Fifty-Fifty were used in thisstudy. These materials were selected because of their genre (conversation), length (approximately 40seconds taped duration) and level (introductory). They were, in addition, matched for content.

The study consisted of five sections, each representing a different condition. The conditions were, inorder of presentation as follows: 1) simultaneously listen to the tape and read the passage; 2) listeningfirst to the tape (passage hidden) and then read the passage; 3) listen to the tape without looking at thetranscript; 4) read the transcript first and then listen to the tape (passage hidden); and finally, 5) read thepassage without listening to the tape. Each condition included a multiplying factor. Either the tape wasplayed twice (in the so-called LR-LR and L-L conditions), or else 45 seconds were allowed for transcriptreading in addition to the time taken to listen to the taped passage. A total of 90 seconds were allowed foreach condition, prior to answering the five researcher produced multiple-choice comprehension questionsaccompanying each passage. An additional 90 seconds were allotted to answering the comprehensionquestions. The total elapsed time for each passage condition was three minutes. All participants finishedthe test adequately within the time allotted. (Similar procedures were employed in the other studies in thisKU series).

Results

The descriptive results for this study are found in Table three. A Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA was done tocheck statistical significance, yielding a KW statistic of 62.739, significant at the p > 0.0001 level.

Table Three: Descriptive Statistics for the Five Transcript Conditions

CONDITION NUMBER MEAN STD. DEV.

LR-LR 98 3.63 .804469L-R 98 4.55 .761475L-L 98 3.91 1.21R-L 98 3.89 .940308R-R 98 4.00 .908153

The post hoc Fisher PLSD Test was undertaken to pinpoint areas of statistical significance. Resultsindicate that:

1. the LR-LR mean was significantly lower than each of the other means.2. the L-R (listen and afterwards read the transcript) means were significantly



higher than each of the others (at the p > 0.01 level).3. there were no statistically significant differences between the other groups,.

The results show that the “listen first then silently read condition” leads to higher comprehensionscores than the other conditions tested. However, the learners averaged 80% on the test as a whole. Evenwithout the benefit of reading the transcripts, the means on condition three (listen only) were equal tothose of read then listen and read only. It seems these learners did not need to use transcripts at all. Thematerials were easy, both short and at a fourth grade (US) reading level, and therefore well within the‘range’ of these particular engineering majors comprehension. With materials within the learners’comprehension range, the use of written transcripts seems superfluous.

Second tech study: This study looked at presentation order with difficult texts.

Participants. The learners came from the same pool as in study one, (N = 92). At the time of the study, theparticipants had had approximately 12 English classes based on story listening. The study was conductedat the end of the first semester, in July 2000.

Materials. The audio taped materials, with the accompanying written transcripts, came from Coast toCoast, book three, an intermediate EFL text. The five passages are presented in the form of semi authentic(scripted but natural sounding) excerpts from the radio. These included a radio movie review, a cookingprogram, a call-in show, a section of upcoming events announcements, and a section of commercialmessages. They are all of approximately the same length and reading difficulty, and were recorded in‘Southern’ American English.

Results

Descriptive statistics are found in Table four.

Table Four: Descriptive Statistics

CONDITION NUMBER MEAN STD DEV STD ERR MEAN

Read&Listen 92 3.89130 1.55808 0.16244Listening twice 92 2.38043 1.22108 0.12731Listen/Read twice 92 2.46739 1.21756 0.12694Reading only 92 3.02174 1.41404 0.14742Listen&Read 92 2.98913 1.21795 0.12698

The nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA yielded a KW of 59.716, with a probability of 0.0001.The post hoc Dunn’s Multiple Comparisons Test was then employed, indicating no statistically significantdifferences between the read only and listen & read conditions, the read only and reading andsimultaneous listen/read conditions, the listen & read and the simultaneous listen/read conditions, thelisten only and simultaneous listen/read conditions. All the other inter conditional differences met thealpha of .05 for statistical significance.

Basically the data lines up in three mutually exclusive groups. The listen only and simultaneouslisten/read conditions are at the bottom, followed by the reading and listen & read conditions, and readand listen conditions. To answer our research question, the use of transcripts (with a silent reading period)does aid in passage understanding.

Turning to the question of presentation order, we find that the read first then listen condition had asignificantly higher average than the listen first then read condition. These results go counter to thepresentation results of the first study, where read then listen came out on top.



As a general conclusion to the second tech study, we can say that with more difficult materials, theuse of written transcripts definitely helps in passage comprehension.

The social science faculty studies

Both of these studies used the same participants and materials. The learners came from two intact classesof required sophomore English in the faculty of social science, Kansai University (N = 89). At the time ofthe studies, the participants had had approximately 12 English classes based on story listening. The socialscience sophomores are substantially better at English than the engineering freshmen (see Levin, Truscott,and Redfield, 1999).

Materials. The audio taped materials, with the accompanying written transcripts, came from Face theIssues, a high intermediate EFL text. The three passages used come in the form of authentic, unscriptedinterviews from US Public Radio. The themes used in these studies were “The New Food Groups,” aninterview with an advocate for public health, “The Bible Hospital,” an interview with a book restorer, and“Trevor’s Place”, a family interview with the founders of an inner city shelter.

The third study: This study investigated presentation order with difficult texts

Results

Descriptive statistics appear in Table five.

Table Five: Descriptive Statistics

TREATMENT NUMBER MEAN ST. DEV. ST. ERROR

L&R 178* 3.34** 1.37 0.102668R&L 178 2.81 1.72 0.128827LR2x 178 2.82 1.29 0.096641echo 178 2.86 1.78 0.088630

*each participant completed two sections of each treatment.**significant at the .001 level.

The Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA yielded a KW of 22.120, with a probability of 0.0001. Thenonparametric Dunn’s Multiple Comparisons Test indicated that the differences between the L&Rtreatment and the other three treatments were significant at the .001 level. The differences among theother three treatments did not reach statistical significance.

The listen-then-read method was by far the best, as measured by the passage comprehension test.The scores on the other three treatments (R&L, LR2x, and echo) were basically the same. The answer toour research question is therefore listen then read. If the goal of listening is passage understanding, thenlisten and read is the best way to insure such understanding. It is clearly a better way to use transcriptswith audio material. The other three methods all produce about the same results therefore any or all ofthem would make a good second choice as far as the use of transcripts is concerned.

That leaves us to speculate why the listen and read condition achieves superior results. One possiblereason is that it eliminates aural interference when reading the transcript. When the transcript is read first,the listening phase of the activity might be acting to confuse the learner (R&L). Our other two treatments(LR2x and echo) combine listening and reading. This simultaneous listening and reading might lead toeither mental overload, or else the listening might be interfering with the reading. In either case, the resultis less comprehension.



The final study: Comparing transcript and no transcript treatments using difficult texts.Here we looked directly at the question of transcript use. Would the use of written transcripts, utilizedalong with the same material in audio form, help the learners in understanding the passages? Conversely,would the learners do as well on the written comprehension items if they did not have access to thewritten passages (as they did in the first study in the series)? In other words, does the use of transcripts aidin understanding?

Results

The second transcript treatment had the highest average score (X = 12.93, SD = 3.95), followed by thefirst transcript treatment (X = 10.47, SD = 3.16), and the listen only treatment (X = 6.18, SD = 2.35). Itshould be noted that the transcript treatments consisted of 24 items, while the listening only treatment hadonly 18 items, a 25 percent difference. See Table five.

Table Five: Descriptive Statistics

TREATMENT NUMBER MEAN STD. DEV. STD. ERROR

listen only 89 6.18 2.35 0.249392transcripts 1 90 10.47* 3.16 0.2333408transcripts 2 90 12.93* 3.95 0.415913

*significant at the .001 level.

The Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA was used, yielding a KW of 125.93, with a probability of 0.0001. TheDunn’s Multiple Comparisons Test results indicate that the differences between both transcript treatmentsand the listening only treatment were significant at the .001 level. The answer to the research question isan emphatic ‘yes,’ transcripts do indeed help the learner understand difficult oral texts.

Summary

The results of the five studies presented above indicate that a). transcripts are not needed when thematerial is easy for a particular group of learners, b). transcript use is helpful when the material is foundto be difficult for learners, and c). a silent reading period, either before or after listening to the material, isthe best way to use transcripts in order to maximize passage comprehension.

References

Krashen, S. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Levin, D., Truscott, G. & Redfield, M. (1999). Comparing science/engineering and business administra-tion/economic learners: the case of Ritsumeikan University. Ritsumeikan Studies in Language andCulture, Vol. 11, No. 3., 1999.



This paper describes the current state of pronunciation teaching in Japanand suggests directions for the future development of the discipline. Thepresenter outlines the reasons for the relative unpopularity ofpronunciation teaching in Japan (large classes, ‘examination hell’, lack ofMaster and Ph.D. course programs specializing in pronunciationteaching, flaws in curricula design, etc.). The paper further surveys recenttrends in pronunciation teaching development, such as learner autonomyand active learning approaches, computer-assisted pronunciation training,interdisciplinary approaches (music, drama, physical response), etc., anddiscusses their applicability in Japan. A special emphasis is made onspeech technologies. The author argues that a success in enhancingpronunciation teaching largely depends on the progress in closely relatedapplied phonetic, phonological, neurological, speech processing andapplied linguistic research.

本稿は日本における発音指導の現状と将来への展望を論じたものである。発音指導が日本において比較的不人気な原因を究明し、近年発展の著しい様々な指導法の有効性について考察する。とりわけ、言語工学からの分析を試みる。発音指導を成功裏に普及させるためには、密接に関連する言語学、音韻学、神経学、応用言語学等の各分野の研究・発展に負うところ大であると考え、その主張を展開するものである。

IntroductionPresent Situation with Pronunciation

Teaching in JapanPronunciation teaching is currently

attracting increased attentionworld-wide: “A renewedenthusiasm and acceptanceamong teachers for explicitlyaddressing pronunciation is apromising trend in ELT”(Levis, 2000: 92). Yet thiswave seems not to have

reached Japan so far.Pronunciation in Japan is

hardly ever taught ‘explicitly’.It is generally not taught in

high school, and onlyexceptionally may be taught to

English majors in someuniversities. As a result,

pronunciation performance of theJapanese learners of English is very often

described as inadequate, “in the best scenarioplacing unnecessary strain on the listeners and in the

worst critically impeding communication” (Futatsuya & Chick,1996: 15).

Although too native-like English pronunciation may sometimes beundesirable (Tobin, 1995), generally in Japan we find a clear social

VeronikaMakarova

Meikai University

Trendsin

PronunciationTeaching in

Japan


demand for the improvement of pronunciation teaching standards. The lamentable situation withpronunciation teaching is well understood not only by the English language teachers, but by studentsthemselves. In class, Japanese students often express a lack of confidence in their pronunciation.According to a survey of the learning attitudes of Japanese students of English, they prefer teachers withgood pronunciation, and are more interested in pronunciation training than in foreign culture or foreignliterature (Makarova & Ryan, 2000). Bad English pronunciation is also often ridiculed in mass media, e.g.in the TV program ‘Karakuri’s Funniest English’. However this social demand for improvedpronunciation training is left unsatisfied.

The blame for poor pronunciation of Japanese learners of English is often put on katakanatranscription (Shimaoka, 2000) and the sound system of Japanese (Misono, 2000; Wells, 2000). Katakanatranscription is undoubtedly a source of extra confusion and difficulties, but they can be overcome insome pronunciation teaching activities (Makarova, 2000b).

Although it is true that unlike English, the Japanese language has very few phonemes, only opensyllables and no consonant clusters, speakers of all other language also experience difficulties in learningEnglish caused by the differences between the sound structures of their native language and English. Forexample, although Spanish does have consonant clusters /sm/, /sn/, /sl/, acquisition of their Englishcounterparts is difficult for Spanish speakers because they voice the initial /s/ following assimilation rulesof their native language (Baptista, 2000).

There is no evidence that the acquisition of English pronunciation is objectively more difficult forJapanese learners than for speakers of other languages. It appears that the reasons for the poordevelopment of English pronunciation skills by the

Japanese learners lie not in the Japanese language, but in the ways English is taught.

Reasons for the Under-Development of Pronunciation Teaching In JapanLarge groupsPronunciation training requires intensive interaction between the teacher and the learner whereby theteacher supplies information, gives models, offers cues, suggestions and constructive feedback aboutperformance, sets high standards, provides a wide variety of practice opportunities and supports andencourages the learner (Morley, 1991).

Such interaction is impossible in case of a typical Japanese class where students’ numbers can varybetween 30 and 100. This lack of opportunity for direct teacher - individual student contact is harmful forpronunciation training.

‘Examination hell’, TOEFL-mania and flaws in curricular designsEnglish is frequently included in Japan into subjects for university entrance examinations. “Examinationsare considered hell because of the extensive preparations that students go through in order to get ready forthem” (Brown, 1995:21). English taught both in high schools and in cram schools is therefore mostlygeared towards training students to perform a limited number of written tasks related to textcomprehension, grammar, lexis and idioms as well as listening comprehension. No elements of activelanguage production are tested. Generally, high school and cram school teachers do not have enoughenergy, time or motivation to deal with ‘unnecessary’ (i.e. unreclaimed at university entrance exams)language production skills, pronunciation in particular.

The same limitation of putting an emphasis on passive rather than active, and written rather thanoral language skills is true of English proficiency exams, which constitute another major demand/offershaping force in the English teaching market in Japan. Taking TOEFL or TOEIC tests is a widely spreadpractice in Japan (Stupak, 1995). A high test score is often necessary for taking part in exchange or studyabroad programs, as well as for enrolment or promotion in many Japanese companies. Pronunciationalong with other active language production skills is disregarded in preparations for these tests.

In universities, English conversation, writing, reading and listening are routinely included intocurricular for English majors, but a course in pronunciation is a great rarity. Pronunciation may beincluded as an element of the conversation course, but it then takes the shape of a ‘remedial action’ rather

Makarova: Trends in Pronunciation Teaching


than a systematic skill-building endeavor.

Lack of Master and Ph.D. courses specializing in pronunciation teachingThe ways pronunciation is taught is a certain region of the world depends strongly on the structure andprogram of teacher training and MA courses. “In most countries (including the United States) there hasbeen very little teacher training in pronunciation over the past 20 to 25 years. As a result, today there areat least four to five generations of ESL/EFL teachers without proper training in pronunciation (Meis,2000: 20-21).” Such a situation creates a vicious circle: teachers who have not had proper pronunciationtraining are not confident of their own pronunciation, and cannot or do not want to teach it to theirstudents (ibid).

In Japan, no institutions offer a specialization in pronunciation teaching, and pronunciation is notnormally included into subjects required at teacher training or MA and Ph.D. courses. Unless thissituation changes and teachers become better versed in current pronunciation teaching techniques,pronunciation of Japanese learners of English is unlikely to improve.

Excesses of the communicative methodAlthough on a certain decline in other parts of the world, the communicative method still remains verypopular in Japan. In particular, it flourishes in Japanese universities where students can take a break fromexamination hell and are eager to be entertained (Makarova & Ryan, 2000). The teachers enthusiasticallytry to engage them into giving talks, making conversations and having discussions. Since the studentshave never actually talked in English before, this process sometimes turns out to be painful rather thanenjoyable. The communicative purpose of making students talk no matter how is therefore even morestrongly exaggerated in Japanese universities than elsewhere.

In general, the communicative method is particularly unfavorable to pronunciation teaching.Historically, the communicative method with its ‘kill the drill’ slogan originated as an antithesis to theoral method with its emphasis on pronunciation drills, hence the negative communicative attitudestowards pronunciation teaching (Makarova, 2000a). Although the communicative method is nowgradually becoming more tolerant to pronunciation training, still pronunciation is required to beincorporated into communicative courses, rather than be taught as a separate subject (Morley, 1996). Itwill probably take time for rudiments of pronunciation within communicative courses to be replaced bycommunicative pronunciation courses, as suggested for example by Pennington (1996).

Directions of ReformThe solution of above problems and perspectives for the development of pronunciation teaching in Japanare considered in this section within the general framework of current trends in the world pronunciationtraining.

‘Global’ trends “Globalization and internationalization” are new catch words in ELT promoted also as a new approach topronunciation teaching (Jenkins, 2000). They appear to refer to two different and unrelated issues: thechoice of pronunciation standard and the global market of the resources for teachers.

Global orientations in pronunciation standardsRegarding the issue of pronunciation standards, the old dichotomy “American or British” is replaced by avariety of choices offered to learners (Wells, 2000). Even the very notion of a ‘standard’ is questioned.According to Kevin Keyes (2000), not only native speakers of various dialects of English, but successfulL2 learners as well can be selected as adequate ‘models’ for pronunciation learning. The new goal inpronunciation teaching is seen in mutual intelligibility among non-native speakers, rather than pursuingunrealistic goal of acquiring perfectly native-like pronunciation (Jenkins, 2000). When/if applied inJapan, where learners are often putt off by the myth of the unattainability of native-like English, it ispossible to expect that setting more realistic and more culturally diverse goals would encourage learners



to work on their English pronunciation.

Global resources in pronunciation teaching media.Globalization of the pronunciation teaching resources is the product of modern computer technologies.Teachers in most parts of the world can get an easy access to valuable tools for pronunciation training,such as software for electronic visual feedback, pronunciation assessment and testing, computer corporaand dictionaries with sound files.

Japanese learners of English are known to react positively to pronunciation training provided withelectronic visual feedback (Anderson-Hsieh, 1996; Akahane-Yamada et. al., 1998). In case of Japan, EVFis particularly advantageous since it helps to tackle large numbers of students in a group by providingevery student with real time feedback to his/her pronunciation performance. The problem of evaluatingand testing the performance of large numbers of learners can be solved by programs providing automaticassessment of pronunciation quality and detecting pronunciation errors (Franco & Neumeyer, 1998).

Computer corpora, such as the International Corpus of English (ICE) provide the learners withsound models from various parts of the world, such as Australia, Canada, East Africa (Kenya andTanzania), Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka,and the United States. The students can train their ears to different accents of English as well as select thepronunciation model which answers their individual cultural, business, etc. interests and demands. Thesame is true of electronic dictionaries with sound files, like CIDE (Leech & Nesi, 1999; Makarova, 2001).With the general computerization of the English language teaching in Japan it is possible to expect thatpronunciation training utilizing electronic media will develop as well.

New trends in pronunciation teaching methodsThe recent years saw a rapid development of new pronunciation teaching methods. However, they canhardly be applied ‘universally and globally’ without a careful consideration of the cultural aspects oflanguage teaching. For example, while language games originally suggested for pronunciation training byDalton & Seidlhofer, 1994; Hancock, 1995 and Pennington, 1996, were shown to work very well in theJapanese context (Makarova, 1998,1999), some other methods seem to be less suited for the needs ofJapanese learners of English. Accent Method developed by Messum (1998) or Physical Approach(Underhill, 1998) put a strong emphasis on the body movements of the teacher and their imitation by thelearners. It appears that in case of the formal atmosphere of Japanese universities these approaches maynot be appropriate, but they could probably work well with younger learners.

The general tendency towards interdisciplinary searchers can be expected to strengthen inpronunciation teaching which already incorporates elements of music, poetry, drama, sports, breathing,linguistics, physiology, neurology, computer and cognitive sciences (Dalton & Seidlhofer, 1996). Inparticular, pronunciation teaching would benefit from interdisciplinary research which would explain thefunctioning of neuro-mechanisms of pronunciation acquisition before and after the ‘critical age’ andwould suggest ways of compensating for the deterioration of neuro-muscular plasticity in the post-criticalage period (Cook, 1996).

An integration of the efforts of linguists and pronunciation teachers is particularly necessary in thefields of prosody and intonation where current theories such as autosegmental phonology are developedfor and applied to speech processing (Ladd, 1996), but do not adequately tackle the needs of foreignlanguage learners.

The impact of new trends in ELT methods on pronunciation teachingThe growing interest to learner-centredness and learner autonomy in English language teaching (Nunan &Lamb, 1996) is a factor providing a very positive impetus to pronunciation teaching development.

Within the framework of learner-centered methods, the teachers are encouraged to investigate thepreferences in their students’ learning styles. It is becoming understood that the perceptual channelsthrough which individual learners obtain information (visual, aural, kinaesthetic or tactile) need to beconsidered in pronunciation teaching as well. “Visual learners prefer reading and writing, receiving



external information via pictures, symbols, etc, whereas auditory ones need to obtain data throughlistening to tapes or lectures. Kinaesthetic learners seek information via physical action, while tactilelearners prefer to touch and hold objects” (Basso, 2000: 5). These differences between the preferredchannels may indicate that firstly, a variety of pronunciation teaching methods has to be present in class,and secondly, that teachers would benefit from experimental investigation of their students’ learningpreferences in order to build up a more efficient pronunciation class curriculum.

Conclusion

Although currently pronunciation teaching in Japan is in a state somewhat resembling coma, it is possibleto expect that this situation will soon change under external pressure of pronunciation teaching boom inthe world ELT and internal pressure from pronunciation-conscious Japanese learners. This transition canbe hastened by forming a structure which would help to unite teachers interested in pronunciation trainingand provide them with opportunities for information exchange and professional development. Thecreation of JALT Pronunciation Special Interest Group is therefore proposed.

References

Akahane-Yamada, R., McDermott, E., Adachi, T., Kawahara, H. and Pruitt, J.(1998). Computer-basedsecond language production training by using spectrographic representations and HMM-based speechrecognition scores. Proceedings of ICSLP 1998, CD-rom.

Anderson-Hsieh, J. (1996). Teaching suprasegmentals to Japanese learners of English through electronicvisual feedback. JALT Journal, 18 (2), 315-325.

Baptista, B. O. (2000). The learning and teaching of pronunciation in Brazil: Linking research and prac-tice. The Americas: A special issue of Speak Out! Newsletter of the IATEFL Pronunciation SpecialInterest Group. 25, 12-19.

Basso, R. (2000). Pronunciation: Student awareness of learning styles. The Americas: A special issue ofSpeak Out! Newsletter of the IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group, 25, 4-11.

Brown, J. D. (1995). English language entrance examinations in Japan: Myths and facts. The LanguageTeacher. 19(10), 21-28.

Cook, V. (1996). Second language learning and language teaching. London: Arnold.

Dalton, C. & Seidlhofer, B. (1994). Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hancock, M. (1995). Pronunciation games. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Franco, H., Neumeyer, L. (1998). Calibration of machine scores for pronunciation grading. Proceedingsof ICSLP 1998, CD-rom.

Futatsuya, K. & Chick, J. (1996). Developing and implementing your own pronunciation assessmentprogram. The Language Teacher, 20(8), 15-20.

Jenkins, J. (2000). The Phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford: OUP

Keys, K. (2000). Teaching pronunciation for English as an international Language. The Americas: Aspecial issue of Speak Out! Newsletter of the IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group, 25, 38-43.

Ladd, D.R.L. (1996). Intonational phonology. Cambridge: CUP.

Leech, G. & Nesi, H. (1999). Moving towards perfection: the learners’ (electronic) dictionary of thefuture. In Herbst, T. and Popp, K. (eds) The Perfect Learner’s Dictionary Lexicographica SeriesMaior, Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 295-309.

Levis, J. M. (2000). Rosina Lippi-Green. English with an Accent: Language, ideology and discriminationin the United States. (Book Review). In: The Americas: A special issue of Speak Out! Newsletter of the



IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group, 25, 92-97.

Makarova, V. (2001). English Pronunciation teaching in Japan. Forthcoming in Gaikokugo KyoikuRonshu (Studies in Foreign Language Teaching). Tsukuba University Foreign Language Center.

Makarova, V. (2000a). Pronunciation teaching in the 20th century: lessons from the past and perspectivesfor the future. English Phonetics (Journal of the English Phonetic Association of Japan), 3, 189-205.

Makarova, V. (2000b). Amusing activities for pronunciation classes. EPTA Biennial Papers, 2, 93-107.

Makarova, V. (1999). Japanese students as active learners of English pronunciation. The LanguageTeacher, 23 (5), 25-27.

Makarova, V. (1998). Pronunciation teaching games as a motivating instrument Speak Out! Newsletter ofthe IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group, 22, 21-25.

Makarova, V. & Ryan, S. (2000). Language teaching attitudes from learners’ perspectives: a cross-culturalapproach.Speech Communication Education, 23, 135-165.

Meis, M. L. (2000). Spanish-speaking EFL teachers: Their needs, challenges and advantages when teach-ing English pronunciation. The Americas: A special issue of Speak Out! Newsletter of the IATEFLPronunciation Special Interest Group, 25, 20-29.

Messum, P. (1998). The Accent Method. Speak out! Newsletter of the IATEFL Pronunciation SpecialInterest Group, 22, 31-33.

Morley, J. (1991). The pronunciation component in teaching English to speakers of other languages.TESOL Quarterly, 25, 481-520.

Morley, J. (1996). Second language speech/pronunciation: acquisition, instruction, standards, variationand accent. In: J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics.Linguistics, language acquisition and language variation: current trends and future prospects.Georgetown University Press, Washington, DC, 138-158.

Nunan, D. & Lamb, S. (1996). The self-directed teacher. Cambridge: CUP.

Pennington, M. (1996). Phonology in English language teaching: An International approach. NewYork:Addison Wesley Longman.

Shimaoka T. (2000). Japanese learners of English and phonetic transcription. English Phonetics:Journalof English Phonetic Society of Japan, 3, 45-56.

Stupak, S.A.(1995). The TOEIC as a test of general proficiency. The Language Teacher, 19(10), 34-36.

Tobin, R. I. (1995). Teaching returnees in university English classes. The Language Teacher, 19 (11), 23-27.

Wells, J. C. (2000). Overcoming phonetic interference. English Phonetics: Journal of English PhoneticSociety of Japan, 3, 9-22.

Underhill, A. (1998). Sound foundations: Making pronunciation physical. Speak out! Newsletter of theIATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group, 22, 27-30.



Movie videos1 can be used in teaching English successfully, partlybecause of their popularity with learners (Ls), but more so because oftheir distinctive characteristics as teaching and learning tools. Weconsider the particular characteristics that videos contain to be: the visualimage, decoding skills, examples of appropriate use of language, non-verbals, the lowering of the affective filter, cultural references, and use ofmultiple channels for conveying meaning (adapted from Benson, 1993).With these seven characteristics in mind we have developed activities thatteachers can use for assessing (getting feedback on), how much interestthe learners have and to what degree learning is taking place. Finally weprovide two examples of learner evaluation of the learning process. Wehope that teachers who have not felt comfortable using movie videosbefore will now be encouraged to make use of this stimulating, enjoyableway of teaching, and more importantly, learning.

映画のビデオは英語を教えるのに、とてもいい教材です。その理由はまず第一に、生徒たちに人気があること。そして第二に、教材としての独特な働きがあるということです。ビデオの独特な働きというのは画像、翻訳機能、正しい英語の使用法の例、ノンバーバルズ、アフェクティブフィルターの低下、文化の参照、音声や画像などによっての色々な面から理解ができる七つの働きです。この七つの個性を活用するためのアクティビティーを作りました。このアクティビティーは、生徒達がどれだけ感心を持っていて、どれくらい勉強になっているのかを知る為の参考になるでしょう。最後に、私

達は生徒の評価例を二つ提供します。今までビデオを使うことに抵抗があった方々も、この楽し

く、刺激的な教え方、そして習い方をもっと多く使ってくれることを願って

います。

1 Of course Digital VideoDisks(DVDs) also offer

excellent possibilities forclassroom use.

Learners often askteachers to show moviesin class because they feelthat movies use realEnglish and contain a lotof useful expressions,

idioms, vocabulary, andgrammar that are needed

for communicating in thereal world. Many teachers

are sympathetic to theserequests but hesitate to use

movie videos for want of waysof assessing if learning is actually

taking. Teachers also feel uncertainas to how to evaluate the effectiveness

of the movies.When using movie videos it is necessary for the

teacher, if not the learners too, to realize what makes themunique from other forms of language instruction such as textbooks, theInternet, or cassette tapes and to build assessment tasks on these

Stephen PetrucioneOsaka Institute of Technology

Evaluationand

Assessment ofVideo Movie

Tasks


characteristics.Benson (1993) lists seven distinctive characteristics in an ELT video course and points to bear in

mind when exploiting them to make tests. Using Benson’s characteristics and ideas for testing as astarting point we have developed various ways in which the teacher and learners can assess what they aredoing with movie videos in class.

In this paper we describe the seven distinctive characteristics of movie videos. We feel these makethem excellent pedagogic tools. Concurrently we suggest activities related to each characteristic for theteacher and learners to use while watching the movie. These activities provide assessment or feedback onhow the learning process is proceeding. After that, we briefly state how the learners and teacher canevaluate the learning process itself.

Characteristics and Activities

Characteristics Activities Providing FeedbackVisual Image learners make inferences/predictions from imagesDecoding Skills learners interpret Japanese/English, vice-versaAppropriate Language learners predict/answer multiple-choice questionsNon-verbals learners do matching exercises/make dialogsLowering of Filter(videos are fun) learners memorize and practice dialogs.Cultural References learners compare/contrast routines to their cultureMultiple Channels learners do cloze/multiple choice questions

Let’s go through these demonstrating each one.

Visual Image

Rost (2000) tells us that inferring and predicting are two of four core listening strategies. Using the visualcharacteristics of movie videos we can help our learners activate these strategies.

Assessment point Ls’ ability to infer and predict from the visual image

ActivityStop the movie video at an appropriate scene. For inferring and predicting we might stop the video whena character has an unusually expressive look on her face, or when suddenly a gun is pointed out of theblue at his head. The teacher asks the Ls, What is she thinking now? or What is going to happen to him?The learners can tell the teacher outright, talk about it in groups, then tell the teacher or write it downindividually or in groups and tell the teacher. If done with timing and the proper scene learners get veryinvolved with the activity.

FeedbackAlong with giving the learners a chance to speak and express their ideas, such questions give the learnerstime and a chance to orientate themselves with what is happening. They become more involved withwatching. They can see for themselves how well they understand what is happening. The teacher gets agood idea of how her learners are following the story, and how well her learners are able to infer orpredict using the visual image.

Decoding Skills

Movie videos with their visual images and ability to absorb the learners lend themselves very nicely todecoding activities.

Petrucione et.al.: Evaluation and Assesment of Video Movie Tasks


Assessment point Ls’ ability to interpret from Japanese/English, vice- versa

ActivityThe learners are shown a brief (three or four turn) dialog with the sound off, but with Japanese subtitles.In groups they write it down and put the Japanese into English. They may use a dictionary. They then sayit out loud to their classmates. After they have finished, they are shown the real dialog from the movie andstudy the differences. The teacher can also supply the script.

The learners can do the same activity next, from English into Japanese. They listen to the English(no sub-titles) write as much down as they can, and the rest with the teacher’s help. Then put it intoJapanese.

FeedbackThe learners are able to see how well they can handle the grammatical structures in the dialogs, and judgetheir ability to get the real meaning. This gives them a chance to see that a lot of communication isculturally based and sentences can often not be interpreted directly from one language to another. It’s funtoo. The learners enjoy putting the English into their own Japanese dialect with expressions familiar tothem.

Appropriate Use of Language

Watching movie videos and having their attention drawn to certain scenes can familiarize learners withwhat is proper and improper behavior in different circumstances.

Assessment pointLs’ ability to act in situations culturally different from what they are used to

ActivityThe learners are shown a scene from a movie in which a person bumps into another or is late for anappointment. The video is then stopped and in multiple-choice format the learners are asked to choosefrom four possibilities the most appropriate form of apology for the occasion. They then see thecontinuance of the scene and learn what the most appropriate expression was.

FeedbackThe learners after thinking about and making their decision are able to see and hear for themselves whatwas appropriate. The teacher gets a sense of how appropriately her learners are able to handle thesituations. She can judge whether her learners need more opportunities in dealing with such situations.

NonverbalsVisual images often provide very expressive gestures and facial expressions that the learners findinteresting, and can get information from. These can be utilized in fruitful activities.

Assessment pointTo assess our learners ability to understand the meanings of and be able to use gestures and facialexpressions in communication.

ActivityWith the sound off learners see a scene with very expressive gestures or movements. It could be a scenewhere a woman is sitting in a chair with her hands up and policemen, having just broken down the door,are pointing guns at her. The teacher asks the learners to tell her or write down what the police are saying



to the woman. Then the teacher shows it again with the sound and helps the learners catch what is beingsaid.

FeedbackThe learners are encouraged to think deeply about what is going on and what is an appropriate way ofspeaking and reacting in the circumstances. This can truly make a difference in real life. In the scenewhere the police break down the door, they tell the woman, “Freeze! Put up your hands!” When theteacher shows the scene again with the sound, the learners can not only see how close they were to theactual English but will probably understand it if they are ever in such a situation.

Lowering of Affective Filter (videos are fun)

Learners often say they want to learn English conversation, meaning, how to use English in differentroutines: in the restaurant, taxi, and meeting somebody for the first time. However, if we just give ourlearners a dialog from a textbook with a picture of two people talking in a restaurant and tell them topractice until they memorize it, they are bored. Movies are fun and learners will often practice a dialogfrom one for a long time.

Assessment pointLearners use of the appropriate English for different routines: in the restaurant, taxi, or meeting for thefirst time.

ActivityThe learners are shown a dialog of a boy and a man getting to know each other. The sound is on and thelearners try to transcribe what is being said. They then write it on the board, the teacher supplying anymissing words or necessary changes. Next the learners practice the dialog in pairs, one taking the part ofthe boy, the other that of the man. When ready they come to the front and act it out for their classmates.

FeedbackThe teacher and learners get lots of pronunciation feedback, which we have found is something thatJapanese learners want. They can grasp their ability to understand and say intricate, natural Englishsentences and are often surprised at their own ability to remember and say them smoothly. Since they aresaying very meaningful things, this activity is fun and ‘reeks’ of authenticity.

Cultural References

When our learners go to an English speaking country and enter a restaurant, they must not only know thelanguage that must be used, but also when to pay the bill or when and how to order.

Assessment pointTo assess our learners ability to behave and do things in the proper sequence in different cultural settings

ActivityThe learners are shown a scene in an English restaurant in which the customers order, eat and pay for ameal. Then they are asked to list the differences they noticed from a restaurant in Japan. They write themdown and tell the class. The learners can be shown the scene in the restaurant repeatedly, as they noticemore each time.

FeedbackThis activity gives them a chance to realize how different it can be going to a restaurant in a differentculture and how well prepared or not they are. They will be surprised at many differences, one of whichmight be the casual attitude of the waiter when talking to customers.



Multiple Channels Convey Meaning

Movie videos make use of different channels: the visual, aural and oral. In doing so they lend themselvesvery nicely to various activities that perhaps our learners would not enjoy otherwise.

Assessment point

Learners ability to learn new vocabulary, and answer questions naturally

ActivityThe learners are given comprehension questions to answer while watching the movie, drawing oninformation from multiple channels, not only the oral/aural. They can answer in groups individually, or inpairs. There might be a question, “Where did Paul go to university?” The teacher stops the video at theproper place and goes back and shows it again until she is sure the learners have the information needed.The learners can use dictionaries and discuss the best way of answering the question. Finally the learnersare given a chance to share their answers with the class.

FeedbackWith groups or pairs, there will often be some spirited debate about the best way to answer. The learnersbecome well aware of how much they do or don’t understand and the teacher gets an idea of thesuitability of her questions. Often the teacher will find that questions need to be rephrased or shortened.She may also be surprised at how her learners pick up words or phrases while answering due to themultiplicity of channels videos offer.

Evaluation of Movie Video Tasks

There is often confusion in the SLA literature in the usage of the terms assessment and evaluation. Wethink assessment should be used when the Ls, teacher, or an interested party are judging how well thelearners have been able to do the task(s). Ross (personal communication, 15 Nov. 2000) has saidevaluation is the process of assessing the learning process itself. We think this includes evaluating theselection of the tasks, the way the tasks are accomplished, and the effectiveness of the tasks. It cannot beemphasized enough that learners must play an active part in this process. We have found two useful tasksthat are of help in evaluating videos. Certainly there are many more.

Learners Tell Their Impressions

GoalTo get the learners to think about and judge the worth of what they have seen.

ActivityThe learners prepare a suitable length of discourse in which they are asked to tell the class theirimpressions of the movie. They are given some guidelines. It may be 3-5 sentences 5-10 sentences orwhatever works for them. They are encouraged to use the questions they answered while watching themovie for reference. They may write it down first if they are more comfortable, using a dictionary if theywish. Then when they are ready, tell, not read to the class their impressions. The teacher or other learnerscan make comments or ask questions.

FeedbackIn our experience the learners state their feelings candidly. If they were bored they say so. If they liked themovie, they say so and tell which scenes and characters moved them. Often they use phrases orvocabulary they have learned while watching, which is a good indicator of the effectiveness of theactivities. The teacher can also ask questions to gain information for future activity planning.



Learners Give a Number Rating

It is helpful to the teacher to use a number rating when seeking to find out from the learners theeffectiveness of particular activities listed above. We have found our learners to be very honest,sometimes bluntly so. However it is very helpful to the teacher and can be done quickly.

GoalTo get learners used to judging the effectiveness and the suitability of the learning activities in a simple,speedy way

ProcedureThe learners are asked the question, “Was this activity good for improving your English?” They are nextasked to circle a number from 1 to 6. Under the number 1 is written Very Good and under number 6 iswritten No Good. The question and the numbers can be written on the board or this can be done orally.

FeedbackBecause the learners are so honest, the teacher gets an immediate, powerful response letting her knowwhether to use the activity again. We have been told 6 by learners at times and have consequently stoppedusing or changed the activity. This can be done humorously so nobody’s (the teacher’s) feelings are hurt.

Summing Up

We think if teachers and learners make use of the seven characteristics of movie videos, with our ways ofgetting feedback a positive learning environment will develop. If teachers add to this their experience andactivate their knowledge of SLA research, the classroom can become a learning room.

References

Benson,V.A. (1993). Testing made-for-ELT videos. The Language Teacher, 21 (9), 15-19.

Rost, M. (2000). Teaching Strategies for Better Listening. Japan Association for Language Teaching,Shizuoka.



The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how movies can be used to teachspeaking. First, some of the advantages of using movies in the classroomare discussed. Issues such as motivation, authentic-like language, andvarieties of language are examined. Second, the theory of language thatunderpins the paper is presented. A brief overview of systemic functionallinguistics is described. Third, the theory of learning is discussed. A briefoutline of the theory of scaffolding is described. Fourth, a moviecurriculum is outlined. Focus is placed on genres and the roles they playin both popular movies and in speaking in general. Fifth, teachingmaterials are examined. Various teaching materials are discussed withinthe framework of a specific curriculum cycle. Sixth, a discussion of thisapproach to using movies is presented. Issues such as generic structureand discourse signals are described. Finally, a conclusion is presentedthat sums up the main points of the paper. It is hoped that this paper willprovide new ideas for using movies in the classroom. It is also hoped thatthe paper will provide teachers with a broader range of skills with whichto teach speaking more effectively.

　　この論文の目的は、スピーキングを教えるのに映画をどのように用いることができるかを論じることにある。まず第１に、授業で映画を使用することの利点について述べる。例えば、動機づけや自然に近い言葉、言

葉の多様性などについて検証する。第２に、この論文の支柱となっている言語理論について提示する。シス

テミック　ファンクショナル言語学の概要について述べる。第３に、学習理論について

論じる。スキャフォルデｲング理論の概略について述べるということである。第

４に、映画を用いたカリキュラムについて略述する。その焦点はジョン

ラということと、一般に学生に人気のある映画でスピーキングにおいてその役を演じるということに置かれるということである。第５に、教材について検証する。さまざまな教材に関して、特別に配慮したカリキュラム展開の枠組みとの関連で論じる。第６に、この映画を用いたアプローチに

関して議論する。ジェネリック　ストラクチュアやデｲスコース　シグナルなどについて

述べるということである。最後に、結論としてこの論文の要点をまとめて提示する。この論文

が、授業で映画を用いる時に新しいアイデアを提供するものとなるこ

とを期待する。また、この論文がより効果的にスピーキングを教える多様なスキル

を持った教員の育成に役立つことを期待する。

Advantages of Using Movies

There is much classroom-based data that indicates movies play asignificant role in student motivation. In a needs analysis conducted withapproximately 1,200 students of English at Josai International University

DamianLucantonio

Josai International University

UsingMovies

toTeach

Speaking


(Lucantonio, 2000), students were asked to nominate from a list of fifteen choices the topics they wouldmost like to study. Out of a total of 40 classes, only three classes (or approximately 75 students) did notlist movies in their top three choices. Moreover, all of the classes that were surveyed listed movies in theirtop five choices. Clearly, then, it appears that students not only like movies but would also like them to beincluded in their English language programs.

In addition to motivation, movies are a rich source of language. Many examples of authentic-likespoken language can be found (Eggins & Slade, 1997) which include features such as talking over the topof other people, digressions, substitution and ellipsis (that is, leaving out unimportant words), impliedreference (that is, indicating shared knowledge), the use of discourse signals (such as um, you know, Imean, because, however, so, and so on). Exposing students to these kinds of authentic-like language canthen be very useful in the teaching of spoken language.

Furthermore, movies combine the visual aspect of language with both listening and speaking. Inmany cases, students not only hear what is being described but can also see it for themselves. In thissense, the visual aspect concretely defines what is going on in the movie.

Another benefit of using movies is that students can be exposed to many kinds of language varieties(Halliday & Hasan, 1989). Many different topics can be explored in movies. Many modes ofcommunication can be identified: for example, face-to-face communication, on the phone, and using acomputer. Many interpersonal relationships can be examined. For example, people speaking to friends;people speaking to strangers; and bosses speaking to employees. Many different accents can be found.That is, native speakers of varieties of English such as American, British, and Australian can be heard, aswell as many non-native speakers of English. And also, many examples of genres (Martin, 1989) can befound in movies. That is, how people use language to speak for particular purposes. These include givingopinions, explaining how things are done, following procedures, recounting past events, and tellingstories.

While there are other benefits, those listed above would appear to be significant when using moviesin an English language classroom.

Theory of language

As Eggins & Slade (1997) suggest, speaking means going beyond the level of a sentence and producing awhole piece of text. Systemic functional linguistics (Halliday & Hasan,1989; Martin,1989) is a theory oflanguage that goes beyond sentence level communication. It focusses on the holistic nature of language. Itlooks at producing texts, that is something with a beginning, a middle and an end, and not just atproducing sentences. It looks at the overall coherence of a text as well as the cohesion between thesentences. Furthermore, at the level of genre (Martin, 1989), the social purposes of language areidentified. For example, how language is used to present opinions, explain how things are done, recountpast events, follow procedures, and tell stories. These social functions of language play important roles incommunication. In addition, systemic functional linguistics stresses language in context (Halliday &Hasan, 1989). In this system of language, meanings in language only occur through their use in context.Without context, language is considered to be meaningless. Therefore, a text-based theory of languagesuch as systemic functional linguistics, that goes beyond the level of a sentence and examines meaningsin context, would appear to be very useful in the teaching of speaking.

Theory of learning

Burns & Joyce (1997) have stressed the importance of models in language development. While the termmodeling can refer to many things, in systemic functional linguistics modeling refers to exposing learnersto certain types of texts (or genres). That is, learners are exposed to the social role of specific genres andalso to the structure or the patterning that is typical of that particular genre. For example, the social role ofan anecdote is to tell a surprising story (Eggins & Slade, 1997). The structure of the genre reflects thisrole. Basically, this structure represents a story with a series of events that culminate with a surprisingevent, and finally ending with a conclusion that is left somewhat inconclusive (Eggins & Slade, 1997).Once the social role and the generic structure have been modeled, students need to learn how to produce

Lucantonio: Using Movies to Teach Speaking


these genres by themselves. That is, they need to learn how to speak by independently producing thesegenres.

In order to do this, the principle of scaffolding has emerged as an important theory of learning(Bruner,1986 & Cazden,1983 cited in Applebee,1999). Just as a building needs support or scaffoldingbefore it can independently stand alone, so too do learners. Using the notion of scaffolding, the followingthree phase curriculum cycle has been developed (DSP Literacy Project, 1989): modeling, jointnegotiation and independent construction.

At first, the text needs to be explicitly modeled for the students. In this first phase of the curriculumcycle, the social function of the text needs to be made explicit, as well as the topic. For example in“Forest Gump,” the social function of an anecdote is to tell a surprising story. The topic is about howForest became rich. This first phase of the curriculum cycle is referred to as the modeling phase.

In the second phase of the curriculum cycle, the main parts of the text need to be broken down andput back together again by the students. Initially, this is done with a high degree of scaffolding or supportby both the teacher and the teaching materials. However, as the learners move through the curriculumcycle, the scaffolding is gradually removed so that the learners can eventually produce a text bythemselves (Burns & Joyce, 1997).

In this second phase, teaching materials that enable students to recognize the generic structure or thepatterning of the text are important. In “Forest Gump,” for example, the story of how Forest became richmoves through the typical pattern of an anecdote. According to Eggins & Slade (1997), this pattern is asfollows: First, there is often an abstract (or a summary statement). This is typically followed by anorientation. That is, background information relating to who, what, where and when. This is then followedby a series of events that culminate with a surprising event. After this, there is usually a reaction to thesurprising event. For example, in the movie “Forest Gump,” the reaction is typified by the exclamation:“After that, fishing was easy!”

Last, there is often a coda or a final comment about the story as a whole. Statements such as:“Wow! It was unbelievable!” are typical examples of this. Therefore, in the second phase of thecurriculum cycle, teaching materials need to be designed that help students recognize the generic structureof the text they are working on. This second phase of the curriculum cycle is referrred to as the jointnegotiation phase.

Finally, in the third phase of the curriculum cycle, students need to independently produce their owntexts without any support (or scaffolding). This final phase of the cycle has two distinct parts. First, theymust independently role play the same topic and the same genre of the movie. For example, tell the storyof how Forest Gump became rich (without any prompts or cues). Then, they must move away from themodel text and independently produce their own text. That is, the same genre (in this case, an anecdote)but a topic of their own choice (for example, tell a story about something lucky that happened to them).This third phase of the curriculum cycle is referred to as the independent construction phase. In this thirdand final phase, the scaffolding is taken away completely. The students must now produce the genreindependently without any scaffolding. That is, without any prompts or cues.

Movie curriculum outline

Movies are chosen on the basis of their popularity and interest for students. They are not chosen for theirliterary content. Furthermore, whether or not the students have seen the movie is not considered to beimportant, as they appear to enjoy seeing movies more than once. Consequently, recent movieblockbusters such as “Forest Gump,” “Titanic,” “Jurassic Park” and “Armageddon” have been chosen(see Appendix 1).

Initially, each movie is previewed by the teacher and analyzed for various genres. For example, in“Forest Gump” an anecdote genre is identified where Forest is telling the story of how he became rich. In“Armageddon,” an explanation genre is identified explaining how they will stop the asteroid fromcrashing into the Earth. In “Titanic,” a recount genre is identified describing how the Titanic sank. In“Jurassic Park,” a discussion genre (or a two-sided opinion genre) is identified. Here, the participants arediscussing whether or not it is safe to open Jurassic Park. These genres have been selected from segments



of high interest movies and will serve as the models from which students will learn how to speak. That is,how to construct their own genres. And, as Eggins & Slade (1997) have pointed out, constructing genresis an essential part of effective communication.

Once the genres have been identified from the respective movie segments, they then need to betranscribed and then analyzed by the teacher for generic structure (see Appendix 1, “Generic Structure”).After this, teaching materials need to be designed that represent each of the three phases of the above-mentioned curriculum cycle of modeling, joint negotiation and independent construction.

Designing Teaching Materials

As previously mentioned, the first phase of the curriculum cycle is the modeling phase. Here, the teacherillustrates the social function of the genre by giving explicit examples of how it is used. For example, in“Forest Gump,” the teacher demonstrates the social function of an anecdote by telling some short storiesabout surprising things that happened to him or her. After this, students identify the topic of the text bycompleting a vocabulary exercise whereby the key words from the movie text are taught. A matchingexercise is useful here. Students match the words on the left to the meanings that are listed on the right.

The second phase of the curriculum cycle is the joint negotiation phase. In this phase, the text isdeconstructed and then reconstructed in terms of its generic structure. This is done by using teachingmaterials that focus on the text’s generic structure and that move from a high degree of scaffolding to alow degree of scaffolding (Burns & Joyce, 1997). High scaffolding is usually typified by materialsoperating at the level of the word or the sentence. Students are more dependent on the materials toreconstruct the text. That is, they are less likely to be able to reconstruct the text by themselves. However,low scaffolding is usually typified by materials operating at the level of the text. Students are operating ata more holistic level and therefore becoming more independent of the teaching materials. That is, theywill soon be able to reconstruct the text by themselves. Useful exercises in this phase that move from highscaffolding through to low scaffolding include: gap-filling activities (high degree scaffolding), wherestudents listen to the movie text and fill in the missing words. Then sequencing activities (mid-degree ofscaffolding), where students listen to the movie text again and put the sentences in the correct order. Thishelps students recognize the main parts of the text. And then generic structure activities (low degree ofscaffolding), where students listen to the movie text again and put the sentences into the correct genericstage. This helps students not only recognize the main points of the text but also recognize the genericstructure of the text (see Appendix 2).Movies & speaking

Following this, learners are ready to start a guided speaking activity. Up to this point, students havebeen listening and have been recognizing the various ways in which the genre of the text is constructed.However, learners now apply this knowledge and skills and begin to start speaking. They use a graphicoutline activity (that focusses on the text’s generic structure) as a guide to retelling the text of the movie(see Appendix 3). This they do without any prompts or cues. At this point, the students are holisticallyreconstructing the text with a fairly high degree of independence. Thus, the text scaffolding has beengradually taken away.

The final phase of the curriculum cycle is the independent construction phase. In this phase the textscaffolding which has been gradually taken away from the students, is removed completely. The finalphase has two distinct parts. First, students role play the movie text without any prompts or clues. Forexample, in “Forest Gump,” they must follow the patterning of an anecdote and tell how Forest becamerich. In doing so, students are free to choose either the words from the text or their own, suitablealternatives. In this sense, while the vocabulary of the movie text is considered important, the main focusis on producing the generic structure. Similarly, in “Titanic,” students would produce a recount genre,describing how Titanic sank. In “Armageddon,” students would produce an explanation genre, explaininghow they will stop the asteroid. In “Jurassic Park,” students would present a two-sided discussion genre,arguing whether or not Jurassic Park should be opened.

In the second part of the final phase, the students independently role-play their own text. That is, thestudents move away from the story of the model text (that is, the movie text) and produce their own story.



The new story may be chosen by the students themselves or from suggestions by the teacher. The newstory may be either related to the movie topic or totally unrelated, depending on the students’ proficiencylevel and background knowledge. For example, drawing on the “Forest Gump” model of an anecdote,students may now tell a story about something lucky that happened to them while on vacation. This theywould do by following the pattern of an anecdote genre. Depending on the proficiency level of thelearners, some students may have to go back again through the joint negotiation phase of the curriculumcycle before they are ready to independently produce their own text. However, more proficient studentsare likely to be able to spontaneously transfer their knowledge of the model genre to that of their own,with little or no preparation. The same applies to the other movies and the other genres. For example,drawing on the model recount genre from “Titanic,” students would now produce their own recount text.For example, typical tasks would be for students to retell what they did on the weekend; or to retell whatthey did yesterday. From “Armageddon,” students would produce their own explanation genre. Forexample, they would explain their busiest day of the week; or explain how to drive a car; or explain howto cook instant noodles. From “Jurassic Park,” students would produce their own discussion genre. Forexample, they would give a two-sided opinion about whether or not they like the university; or whether ornot they like studying English; or why they like certain music or particular bands. By being able toindependently produce their own texts (that reflect a particular genre), the scaffolding has been finallyremoved.

Discussion

The construction of genres is essential for effective speaking (Slade, 1997; Burns & Joyce,1997). Whenwe speak, we speak for a particular purpose. And it is these purposes for which we speak that are reflectedin the patterning of a genre. For example, in every day life people use language to explain how things aredone or how things work; people give opinions; people tell stories; people recount past happenings; andso on. If students can do these things, then their communication skills will be greatly enhanced.

Furthermore, by producing whole texts (which has been referred to in this paper as genres), studentsgo beyond the level of a sentence. In order to do this, the role of generic structure is important. However,in addition to this, the role of discourse signals (Burns & Joyce, 1997) within a text is considered to beimportant. These signals are important for the overall coherence of a text (Halliday & Hasan, 1989).Furthermore, in speaking, these function as useful prompts or cues for students to extend their speaking.For example, discourse signals may be conjunctions such as “because, however, so, also, I mean, youknow, and then, after that, and finally.” These kinds of words link particular stages of a text together. Forexample, such as introducing a new reason in an opinion, such as introducing another point or a new stepin an explanation, such as elaborating on a point that has already been made, or such as indicating that theconclusion or the ending has been reached. By focusing on genres, students also tend to focus on the roleof discourse signals. Also, by focusing on genres, the functions of the discourse signals are realized asthese signals are taught in context. These cues can help learners to extend their speech and to movebeyond the level of a sentence.

Conclusion

Using movies is a very useful tool for student motivation in an English language classroom. However, thebenefits of movies are not solely confined to motivation. Movies are also a rich source of everyday, real-life genres. These can be made explicit for our learners to analyze and to learn from. As such, they can beused as models for speaking. By tapping into a theory of language such as systemic functional linguistics,students can recognize the importance of speaking for different social purposes. By tapping into a theoryof learning such as scaffolding, these genres can be learned by students of all levels. While theeducational value may be masked behind the entertainment factor, using movies in the classroomrepresents a rich source of language learning.



References

Applebee, A. (1999). Building a foundation for effective teaching and learning of English. In Research inthe teaching of English. Vol. 33. (pp..352-366).

Burns, A. & Joyce, H. (1997). Focus on speaking. Sydney: National Center for English Language Teach-ing and Research (NCELTR), Macquarie University. 1-17, 81-101, 89-90.

DSP Literacy Project. (1989). A brief introduction to genre. Sydney; Metropolitan East Department ofSchool Education. 2-3.

Eggins, S. & Slade, D. (1997). Analyzing casual conversation. London: Cassell. 67-114, 227-270; 236-264.

Halliday, M.A.K. & Hasan, R. (1989). Language, context and text: aspects of language in a socialsemiotic perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 29-41, 48.

Lucantonio, D. (2000). Using movies to teach speaking. Paper presented at the JALT International Con-ference. November 5, 2000. Shizuoka, Japan.

Martin, J.R. (1989). Factual writing: exploring and challenging social reality (2nd. edition). Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Appendix 1

Movie curriculum outline

Movie Movie Language Social Generic IndependentTask Goal Function Structure Task

Forest How Anecdote Tell a (Abstract)^ Tell aGump Forest surprising (Orientation) story

became story ^Remarkable aboutrich event^ something

Reaction^ surprising(Coda) that

happened to you

Arma- How to Explan- Explain Phenomenon Explaingeddon stop the ation how ^Explanation a daily

asteroid something sequence routineis done

Titanic How Recount Retell a (Abstract)^ Retell whatTitanic past event Orientation^ you didsank Record of on the

events^ weekend(Coda)



Jurassic Should Discussion Give a Opinion^ Do you likePark Jurassic 2-sided Reaction^ English? Why

Park be opinion (Evidence)^ ORopened Resolution Why do you

like your favorite band?

Key:( ) = optional element ^ = followed by

Appendix 2

Joint Negotiation Phase

Generic structure activity: understanding the main points & structure of the text

1. Read the sentences below.2. Now listen again. Match the sentences to the correct part of the story. One is done for you.Topic .....D...(main point)Background information ..........(who, what, where, when)Events At first, ..........(things that happened) Then, ..........

And then, .......... (surprising event)After that, ..........Then, ..........

Conclusion So finally, ..........(ending)Final comment ..........

A. They bought a whole bunch of boats - 12 “Jenny’s”B. Wow! It was really amazing!C. They went to church and prayed. But they were still unsucesful.D. Let me tell you how Forest Gump became a millionaire.E. A hurricane destroyed all the boats except for Forest’s (boat).F. Shrimping was easy because there were no other boats.G. They were very unsuccessful.H. They became very successful and very rich.I. Forest and his friend Lieutenant Dan bought a boat to fish for shrimp.



Appendix 3

Joint Negotiation Phase

Guided role play

Follow the guide below. Tell the story of how Forest Gump became rich. Remember to use the past tense.

Topic Let me tell you how ..........(main point)

Background information Well, ..........(who, what, where, when)

Events At first, ..........(things that happened) Then, ..........

And then, (surprising event) ..........After that, ..........Then, ..........

Conclusion So finally, ..........(ending)

Final comment Wow! ..........



If students learn how to think critically in content-based languageclasses, they will be able to express their opinions much moreconfidently. But simply explaining what critical thinking is and tellingthem to think critically will not suddenly make students vocal criticalthinkers. Just as language in general is acquired by exposure, studentsneed extensive exposure to examples of critical thinking in order to makeit their own. This article shows how short letters to the editor that appearin international newspapers and magazines can expose college Englishlearners to various views on issues, while at the same time teaching themhow to present their own views effectively. This article introducesseveral activities using authentic letters to the editor such as categorizingviews in the letters, choosing letters close to the students’ own views andcritiquing letters. The activities culminate with students’ responding to amagazine article about Japan by writing letters to the editor.

コンテント・ベイストの語学教育で、学習者がcritical thinkingの訓練をすれば、もっと自信を持って発言ができるようになるだろう。しかしながらcritical thinkingとはなにかを説明しただけで、直ちに生徒が意見をどんどん言うようになるわけではない。語学の習得が一般的にそうであるように、critical thinkingも相当量のインプットがあってこそ自分のものになる。本稿は、国際版の新聞や雑誌に掲載される短い読者の投稿欄を用い

て、多種多様な意見を分類したり、自分の見解に近いものを選んだり、それぞれの投稿を批評をする、といった英語演

習を紹介する。さらにこの学習のまとめとして、学習者は日本のことが書かれた雑誌記

事に対して、実際に投稿するつもりで、記事の批評や自分の意見を書く。

Iken wa arunenkedo do ittaraiika wakarahen. (I have an opinion but I justdon’t know how to say it inEnglish.)

In content-based languageclasses where learningabout, thinking about and

talking about issues are oftenthe center of class activities,

the pedagogy of criticalthinking can be a great help.

However, students will notautomatically think critically, nor

express their thoughts effectivelyjust by being told the principles of

critical thinking. Just as languageacquisition requires substantial amounts of

input, in order to be able to express one’s thoughtscritically, one needs to be exposed to numerous examples of

thoughts from other people.

Akiko KatayamaOsaka Jogakuin Jr. College

Lettersto the Editor:

Critical ThinkingInput


Advantages of Letters to the Editor as a Langage Learning Material

Letters to the editor which are found in most of the major periodical publications have several greatadvantages as content-based language learning material. First of all they are usually short and authentic.Using authentic materials is strongly recommended in content-based instruction (Katayama 1998, pp.139-140, Stryker & Leaver 1997, pp. 8-9, p. 295). With short but authentic materials, even false beginnerstudents can gain confidence and motivation for further learning (Stryker & Leaver 1997, pp. 8-9). Asecond advantage is that letters to the editor provide a variety of topics and views on different issuesexpressed by people from all walks of life: native speakers of English and L2 English speakers likestudents themselves. Some are good examples of critical thinking and others present bias of the writers.Students can learn from both. An additional advantage of letters to the editor is their flexibility. Letterscan be used independently from the original articles or in combination with the original articles. Lettersreading can proceed or follow the article reading. But perhaps the most important advantage is that theseletters can motivate students to read and study the topic further on their own.

Sample Activities

The following activities are what I did in a second year content-based language course, “the media andsociety,” at Osaka Jogakuin junior college in two consecutive terms. The two groups of the students areboth intermediate, all female, and age, 19-20.

The students were assigned to read an interview article in Time (April 24, 2000) in which TokyoGovernor Shintaro Ishihara explained his controversial comments on foreigners. The students were alsoassigned to read five letters which appeared in Time (Time, 2000, May 22) several weeks after the originalarticle on Ishihara and to do the following worksheet. In class we went over the answers and discussedthem.

Most students understood the first goal of comprehending the positions of the letter writers. On theother hand very few students could get what the rhetorical questions infer.

————————————————————————————————————————Letters to the editor sample worksheet 1: Japan’s Most Provocative Politician

1. Read the five letters regarding Shintaro Ishihara quickly and choose the letters which:a. support Ishihara.b. criticize Ishihara .Read the letters again and choose the letters which have:a. only positive statements about Ishihara.b. only negative statements about Ishihara.c. both negative and positive statements about Ishihara.

2. Explain what the writer actually means by each of the following questions?a. “What are we to make of them?” (Letter #3)b. “Should we admire and embrace a leader who is both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?” (Letter #4)

2. Summarize each of the letters in one sentence.

Discussion1. Be prepared to comment on each of the letters.2. Be ready to discuss generally how the editor might decide which letter to publish.

————————————————————————————————————————

For the next session students received the following homework on the letters (Time, 1999,September 20, p. 6) responding to Time magazine special (1999, August 16) on Japanese right wingerswithout the original article. As ordinary magazine readers sometimes do, the students guessed thecontents of the original article based on the letters. The letter which the students summarized (See #3) was

Katayama: Letters to the Editor: Critical Thinking Input


written by a nonJapanese resident of Japan. He criticizes the magazine for sensationalizing a minorrightwing trend and ignoring the less sensational, but more serious political problem of the nation. Manystudents chose this letter as the most effectively written. (See Discussion #2)

———————————————————————————————————————Letters to the editor sample worksheet 2: Japan’s Nationalism

1. Read all the letters carefully and be ready to describe the possible contents of the original articles.2. From the names and residences of the letter writers guess what kind of person each of the writers

might be. Foe example:age occupation political belief personality etc.

3. Summarize the last letter (Letter #5)

Discussion1. Which letter is the closest to your opinion? State why.2. Which letter is most effectively written? State why.

———————————————————————————————————————

After the going over the homework in class, students got the original article, “National Colors,”(Time, 1999, August 16) to read if they were interested in the topic.

About a month after the second “letters to the editor” session I conducted an informal survey onwhether the students actually read the long supplementary article. Two out of 19 respondents answeredthey did “not read the article at all.” Seven circled the item which read “Just looked at the photographsand captions” and nine students reported they “read the article partially.” One student responded that she“read the article thoroughly.”

Follow-up Activity

The letter reading activities were expanded into letter writing the following week.

———————————————————————————————————————Writing a letter to the editor: The Replacement Leader (Time, April 17, 2000)

Read the article and write a letter to the editor about the article. (approx. 3-5 sentences.)———————————————————————————————————————

The letters the students wrote indicate possible influence of the previous letter reading activities.For example, some students used rhetorical questions . The following are uncorrected examples ofstudents’ letters to the editor.

• I think he is not the right man for prime minister. He sometimes makes a seriousmistake when he has speech. it gives Japanese people anxiety. I agree with the ideathat change prime minister soon. When can we see ideal prime minister?

• Your article “The Replacement Leader” about the prime minister Mori and Obuchisounded to me a kind of repetition. Such article always mentions only about theirnegative sides. One the contrary, it’s funny that after Obuchi’s death, the mediasuddenly started praising him. We all may be well aware that Mori’s disqualified forthe prime minister as some of the diet people mentioned. What I want to say is thatpeople should consider to make solutions rather than only blaming Mori.

Other sources of critical thinking input

Nowadays, students can find many kinds of opinion-oriented sources online. Chat rooms, movie sites,even Internet bookshops and record shops run short reviews by customers about the products they sell. So



if Timemagazine letters to the editor appears be too challenging for basic learners, there are numerousother easily accessible authentic material on the Internet for basic level learners.

Conclusion

Critical thinking is the art of examining one’s own thinking process so that one can think more accuratelywith constructive skepticism”and without prejudice, and this ultimately leads to in-depth learning. (Paul,1993) Reading the views of real people in real magazines makes students’ think and at the same timehelps them learn ways to express their own views. To experience the real-life application of the classactivities I encouraged my students to send their letters to the editor by e-mail.

References

Katayama, A. (1998). Problems of content-based English teaching Osaka Jogakuin Junior College Kiyo ,27, 139-140.

Larimer, T. (2000, April 17). The Replacement Leader. Time April 17, p. 25. (2000, April 24). RabbleRouser Time April24. 20-25. (1999, August 16). National Colors Time August 16. 14-19.

Letters (1999). Time September 20, p. 6.

Letters (2000). Time May 22, p.5.

Paul, R. W. (1993). Critical Thinking (revised 3rd ed). Santa Rosa : Foundation for Critical Thinking.

Stryker, S. B. and Leaver, B. L. (1997). Content-based instruction : From theory to practice. In S. B.Stryker and B.L. Leaver (Ed.). Content-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education. (pp. 8-9).Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Stryker, S. B. and Leaver, B. L. (1997). Content-Based Instruction: Some Lessons and Implications. In S.B. Stryker and B.L. Leaver (Ed.). Content-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education. (p. 295).Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.



When people gather for social purposes, little stories of personalexperience, friends’ misfortunes etc. are likely to come into theconversation. In this article I briefly examine some of the typical genericfeatures of these conversational stories and then demonstrate how a storytranscript can be used to raise learner awareness of some of thesefeatures. I then use an example of a story told by a Japanese student toshow how teachers might use this developing awareness to help learnersbecome more effective in telling stories from their personal experience.

人はしばしば社交を目的として集い、自己の経験や他人の出来事を話題にする。本発表では、このような会話における語りの特徴を説明するとともに、会話文のスクリプトを使うことによって、学習者にその特徴を気づかせる方法を紹介した。また、ある日本人学習者の発話を例に、学習者自らが語りの特徴に気づくことで、談話構成能力を高められるという、語りの効果的な指導法についても示唆した。

Introduction

Although the word ‘storytelling’ may initially conjure up memories of‘once upon a time’ and hot milk at bedtime, whenever people gathertogether, it is likely that stories of amusing or embarrassing incidents

which have befallen them, their family or friends willcrop up. As these ‘conversational stories’ display

certain generic features and occurfrequently in human interaction, it would

seem reasonable for teachers of thespoken language to devote some time

to helping their students to developstorytelling skills. This article

will describe a possibleapproach to the teaching ofthese skills.

Generic features ofconversational stories andthe language classroom

For a detailed description ofthe generic structure of

conversational stories, thereader is referred to Eggins and

Slade (1997). A main featurewhich I tend to concentrate on in

my own classes is that storiesnormally begin with an orientation

(Eggins and Slade op. cit.) in which theteller gives some background information

regarding time, place and participants beforegoing on to narrate the actual story events. I also like

to show how tellers evaluate (Labov 1972) their stories withphrases such as ‘the funniest part was…’ and to demonstrate how thestory can be enhanced by devices such as exaggeration, emotive lexis andattention to detail. To introduce these features, I usually present

Bob JonesREJ Language House

ConversationalStorytelling

in theLanguage

Class


students with an example story, as illustrated below.

Awareness-raising activities: an exampleOne story (see Appendix) which I often use is based on a picture story from Fletcher and Birt (1983) andconcerns an overweight middle-aged man who meets with several disasters while attempting to loseweight by jogging. A more detailed account of how to use this story in class is available elsewhere(reference omitted – see cover page) but, essentially, after reading through the script with the students, Iuse an approach suggested by Willis and Willis (1996) and give out a number of questions designed toraise awareness of particular generic features of the story. Typical questions may include:

• How many misfortunes does the uncle suffer?This question is designed to emphasize that the story is not about one misfortune buta series of inter-related misfortunes and that the final misfortune is evaluated by thephrase, “and then, just to make matters worse” (lines 26-27). Alternatives such as“and as if that wasn’t enough” may also be introduced.• Why does S1 say “So, anyway” (line 7)?This question focuses on the importance of the orientation stage, referred to above.The boundary marker ‘anyway’ signals the end of the orientation as the speakerprepares to narrate the actual events.• Why does S1 give such a detailed account of the uncle’s preparations for the run(lines 7-9)?This helps the listener to visualize the scene and, also, indicates the seriousness ofthe uncle’s intent. Rintell (1990) also notes that storytellers often go into seeminglymundane detail as a prelude to introducing surprise elements.• Can you find a word or phrase which means ‘very wet’?‘Absolutely drenched’. This is an example of emotive lexis. Students can be helpedto appreciate the distinction between ‘very wet’ and ‘absolutely drenched’ by beingasked to compare the Japanese ‘nuremashita’ with the more emotive ‘zubunure ninarimashita’. Similar questions can be asked to focus on items such as ‘limping’,‘pouring with rain’ and ‘tossed’.

Working with students’ own stories

Once students have been given a chance to examine one or two stories, I encourage them to tell stories oftheir own. Like the uncle in the jogging story, we have probably all experienced days when everythingseemed to go wrong and, consequently, have a story to tell. The following example was related recentlyby one of my students:

Figure 1.

<S> Last year I had to go to a nyuushiken...I went to the company... I left the jacketon the train... I asked er... about the jacket ... eki no hito... ekiin (<T> I asked theguard) but.. but my jacket was not find.

<T> So what did you do?<S> Aaah?<T> What happened next?<S> That evening I wanted to eat some nagusameru ... er... I wanted to eat some

chicken nuggets... this was a present for me... instead of the jacket... so I boughtthe nuggets and all of these nuggets I dropped... I couldn’t eat the nuggets.

<T> So what did you do?<S> Two days later I got the email from this company. I couldn’t pass the test. I

couldn’t entrance the company.

Jones: Conversational Storytelling in the Language Classroom


This student has a good story to tell, but there are certain areas where her narration could beimproved. Before we jump in and start correcting, however, I think it is wise to pause and consider thedemands of the task she is undertaking. Not only does she have to recall the events themselves, but shealso has to attend to her grammar and vocabulary in order to articulate them in a foreign language. As wecan see, there is a great deal of hesitation and, on three occasions, she resorts to Japanese. Given thesesurface difficulties, it may seem unfair for the teacher to expect her to attend to generic features as well.

Bygate (1996) draws attention to the problems faced by learners telling a story in English for thefirst time. However, he also gives cause for optimism by demonstrating that if, in a subsequent lesson,students are given a chance to retell their stories, even without intervening tuition, the result will often bea much richer narration.

Bygate’s study has informed my own approach to helping students develop their stories, which Iwill summarize as:

1. Let students tell their stories, respond to the content but give only minimalcorrection.

2. In a subsequent lesson, give the students a chance to retell the same stories.3. Then (and only then) give corrective feedback.

When this particular student was given a second chance one week later, she produced this version:

Figure 2.

<S> Last year I had to go for an employment exam... in the train I took a nap and Icouldn’t get up until the train reached Nagoya... when I got up I was veryconfused so I forgot my jacket on the train. When I was out of the station, Inoticed that but the train had already started. I rushed to the station’s lost andfound office but there wasn’t my jacket there.

<T> So what did you do next?<S> I got the telephone number but I didn’t have any time because I had to take the

exam... so I couldn’t phone the station’s office... So I hurried to go to thecompany. After the exam I thought that I bought... I wanted to eat some chickennuggets to comfort myself but I... make mistake to open the package and Idropped all of the nuggets. I couldn’t eat any... And then... to make mattersworse... I couldn’t pass the exam.

There are still certain lexical and grammatical inaccuracies but it will be noticed that this secondversion is richer than the first in several ways. For one thing, there is more detail: she tells us not only thatshe forgot her jacket but explains why she forgot it. She also describes her efforts to retrieve the jacketand briefly explains why she dropped the nuggets. She feels no need to fall back on her Japanese and isable to express nagusameru in English as ‘to comfort myself’.

What can the teacher do to help this student improve further? Two things come to my mind:although she does a nice job of signaling the final misfortune with a phrase borrowed from the joggingstory: ‘And then… to make matters worse’, it seems a pity that she omits the detail from the first versionabout receiving the email, which by momentarily delaying the surprise element, adds a nice touch ofsuspense to the ending.

The teacher might, therefore, encourage her to combine elements from the two versions:

And then… just to make matters worse… I got an email two days later (pause) andthey told me I hadn’t passed the test.

She might also be referred to the jogging story and the detailed account of the uncle getting dressed.



Similar use of detail could be used in her story to highlight the shock of dropping the chicken nuggets,maybe resulting in something like:

So I paid for the nuggets, carried them over to a table, put the tray down, startedunwrapping them and suddenly…

Conclusion

Andrew Wright once said, ‘go to any pub or party and you will hear a constant babble of stories. Thewhole world is full of storytellers’ (Wright 1995: 16). Like the unfortunate student who lost her jacket,everyone has stories to tell. My hope is that activities such as those described in this article will help togive our students the tools to do so more effectively.

References

Bygate, M. (1996). ‘Effects of ask repetition: appraising the developing language of learners’ in Willisand Willis (Eds.)

Eggins, S. & Slade, D. (1997). Analyzing Casual Conversation. London: Cassell.

Fletcher, M. & Birt, D. (1983). Storylines. Harlow: Longman.

Labov, W. (1972). Language in the Inner City. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Rintell, E. M. (1990). That’s incredible: stories of emotions told by second language learners and nativespeakers. In R.C. Scarcella, E.S. Anderson, & S.D. Krashen

(Eds.) Developing Communicative Competence in a Second Language. New York: Newbury HousePublishers.

Willis, D., & Willis, J. (1996). Consciousness-raising activities in the language classroom. In J. Willis &D. Willis (Eds.) Challenge and Change in Language Teaching. Oxford: Heinemann.

Wright, A. (1995). A travelling storyteller. The Language Teacher. 19/10: 16-19, 26.

Appendix

JOGGING STORY

S1: Oh, talking about losing weight, did I tell you about my Uncle John?S2: No, I don’t think so.S1: Well, you see, my Uncle John’s quite overweight and he’s always

been a bit worried about it so erm... last week he decided to dosomething about it.

S2: Uh huhS1: So, anyway, he got himself a keep-fit book and then one morning

he stood in front of the mirror and he put on his vest, his shorts,his running shoes... you know, all the er… gear

S2: Yeah, all the gear.S1: and out he went. Now you can just imagine it, can’t you? This big

fat guy who’s never been jogging in his life before. He goes runningdown the road and all the kids stand there laughing at him but,y’know, he doesn’t take any notice, he just keeps on running and then 15he comes to a corner, right?

(Conversational Storytelling)S2: Uh huh



S1: So, he jogs around the corner and there are two women standingthere with a dog. Anyway, he was so busy running that he didn’t evennotice them and he tripped, right over the dog’s lead and banged hisknee.

S2: HahS1: So the dog got angry, turned around and bit him on the hand and the

two women started shouting at him.S2: Wow!S1: So, there’s my Uncle John, blood coming out of his hand and blood

coming out of his knee. He starts limping home and then, just tomake matters worse, it starts pouring with rain.

S2: Hah hah oh noS1: So, by the time he got home he was absolutely drenched. He walked

straight over to the kitchen table, picked up the keep-fit book andtossed it straight into the bin.

S2: Hah hah. So I don’t suppose he’ll be going jogging again then, will he?(Conversational Storytelling)

S1: Well, what do you think?

(based on an exercise from Fletcher and Birt, 1983)



The presentation described an activity called ‘Children’s Book Project’which was used with Japanese high school students majoring in HomeEconomics. Thirty-eight students created books (the JapaneseKamishibai) for children and requested to display or performed them invarious nursery schools and homes for the aged. At the end of the course,the students presented their books to their classmates for peer-evaluationand this was included in their overall course grades.

本報告では、「児童絵本作り (Children’s Book Project) 」という教室でのアクティビティーを、実践報告として、その活動過程等を紹介する。３８人の家政科の高校生（女子）を対象に、オーラル・コミュニケーションの時間に簡単な英語の児童絵本を作成させ、お互いに発表しあい、また、老人ホームや幼稚園等で紙芝居として発表できるようにした。アクティビティーを決める際に教師と生徒がしっかり話し合ったこともあり、生徒たちの反応（授業中の態度や活動意欲等）は、非常に良いものとなった。

While teaching English in a public high school in Hyogo, I was in chargeof Oral Communication, one of the subjects that high school studentshave to take. My teaching partner was William Karl, an ALT (AssistantLanguage Teacher) from the United States. The students were all girls

(age range: 17-18) majoring in Home Economics. There were 38students in the class. We conducted textbook lessons

regularly and spared time for class activitiesfor about 10 to 15 minutes per lesson. This

oral oommunication class was beingtaught once a week during a semester.

At beginning the semester, weadministrated a questionnaire to

ascertain what the studentswanted to do as a classroomactivity. The studentsbrainstormed and respondedfreely. In the next lesson, weshared our finding that manystudents had suggestedmaking a children's book for

a classroom activity. Wetalked at length with all the

students because it wasessential to convince them of

the value of the activity. Students in the Home

Economics course at this highschool had an opportunity to visit a

nursery school and homes for the aged astraining (jisshu). In such institutions, the

students interact with children and the elderly,for example, dancing, singing, having lunch, and

sometimes doing volunteer work. In this way, they chose ‘making achildren's book’ for their classroom activity: ‘Children’s Book Project.’

This presentation introduces the activity called the ‘Children'sBook Project’ conducted at high school as part of team teaching. In this

Akira NakayamaInternational Christian

University

TheChildren’s Book

Project:A Classroom

Activity


project, the students are required to make a children's book (or picture-card-show: Kamishibai) forpresentation at a nursery school, homes for the aged, and each other. Furthermore, they were required toevaluate each other’s work.

In the following sections, we display the students' work sheet for the project, evaluation sheet,procedures, teaching plan, and some comments. In the last part, we discuss the possible development ofthis project in the future.

Worksheet

As shown in Appendix A, the worksheet has instructions, rules, preparations, and some blanks. Teachersfollow this worksheet and inform the students of the instructions and rules explicitly. Before starting thisactivity, teachers need to prepare colored paper (more than 10 sheet for each group), paints and crayons.In the "Let's do it!" part, after students form groups of five or six, they are requested to write themember's name, title, story in both Japanese and English (see Appendix A).

Evaluation Sheet

After the students finished making their book, they had chances to make presentations. Each group has todemonstrate the children's book in class. They evaluated one another, using the evaluation sheet(Appendix B) and answer questions about what was presented and also rate according to the scales on thesheet. They are told that their peer-evaluations would be included in their class grade beforehand.

Procedures

This activity will take about five to six periods to complete the book and one more period forpresentation (in Japanese high school, 50 minutes = 1 period). However, it depends on the students’proficiency level and how much time you can spare for this activity. In our case, we spent 15 minutes onthis activity and then we completed the activity using five periods including the class presentation (but wedid not count the presentations in nursery schools and homes for the aged because the jisshu was notincluded as credit for the English course). Here is a sample time schedule with seven steps:

1. Make a group of five or six . They fill out the worksheet and talk about theirtopic and story.

2. Write half of the story in Japanese (at least five or six sentences).3. Write the full story in Japanese.4. Translate the story into English.5. Draw cute, nice and attractive pictures on the papers and write down English

sentences on each page.6. Complete the book.7. Present the book to an audience.

Translations and drawing pictures perhaps take much time. In such case, you need extra classes forcompleting this project.

The teaching plan (Appendix C) shows the procedure of this activity that we followed.

Why the Children's Book?

From our experience, we know that classroom activities always play an important role in motivatingstudents' towards effective participation in class. The children's book project was successful in ourEnglish class. We had three things in operation in this activity: negotiation (see, van Raay, 1998, p. 18),continuation, and a meaningful task. By negotiating with the students before putting the activity intopractice, we were able to manage the class successfully. The children's book project was a continuous task(or activity), and the students could understand how much progress they made and were less likely to loseinterest in making books. What is more, the children's book project was a meaningful task for the students

Nakayama: Children's Book Project: A Classroom Activity


in Home Economics because they had 'jisshu' outside the class: e.g. nursery school training. In this way,the project was supported by the context of the teaching situation.

Problems

Individual Differences and Group Differences In Japanese schools, sometimes, it is difficult to form groups because of students' preferences. It alsocomes from their English proficiency levels. The teachers are required to cope with such situations.Group differences are also problematic because the degree of progress is not the same for all groups.Some groups are very well and finish the project much faster than others. We directed the former toredraw pictures and the latter to complete the book using extra periods after school. Anyway, bothindividual differences and group one are an inevitable issue for group activity.

Evaluations One of the most important issues in this project was how to evaluate the students. Strictly speaking, wewere not obliged to evaluate the students' children's book because it was simply one activity. However, byadopting peer-evaluation, the students' attitude toward the classroom activity might have been morepositive. In our case, we informed the students to include their participation toward the class to theirgrades. In fact, their participation in the class activity was fairly good, and on the presentation day, theyhad a good time during presentations. (Regretfully, there was no recording of the presentations on videoor photograph.)

Using Computers

The students' book was handwritten. How about using computers? It might be good idea to use MicrosoftPower Point to make a children's book on a PC. If school has computers, this can be tried. Power Pointhelps us to make an effective presentation on the screen.

Conclusion

In our activity, both students and teachers were familiar with the tasks and goals. This is because wetalked over the protocol and negotiated repeatedly the activities beforehand. Sometimes, in order to attractstudents, teachers give students new activities without ensuring that students really want to do. This maylead to differences between students’ beliefs and teachers’ beliefs about language learning, and provokeconflicts or at least serious mismatch between beliefs. In order to avoid such conflict, the threecontributory factors (negotiation, continuation, and meaning task) mentioned above ought to beincorporated into the activity.

Acknowledgement

I sincerely acknowledge here the cooperation of my partners, Mr. Kirean O’toole (from Australia) andMr. William Karl (from the United States) in Yamasaki Senior High School, Hyogo prefecture. I verymuch enjoyed teaching English with them.

References

van Raay, P. (1998). The motivation approach. The Language Teacher, 22, 17-18.



Appendix A

The Children’s Book Project (worksheet)

Instructions:In this activity, we are going to make a children’s book. We will present the book to people in nurseryschool, homes for the aged, and each other. Now let’s make it!

Rules:1. This is group work. Please form groups of 5 or 6 people.2. The book should be more than 10 pages.3. Each page has one English sentence.4. Each page has cute and nice pictures.5. Each group must present the completed book to various people.

Preparations:Colored paper (more than 10 sheet), paints and crayons.

Let’s do it!Please write your group members’ names, the title of the book, and the story first in Japanese.

Members:

Title:

Story (in Japanese):

Story (in English):

Appendix B

Evaluation Sheet

Your name:

The title of the book that you looked at:

How many pages:

Circle: true story / fantasy story

The name of the main character:

Please rate according to the following scale:

Interesting 5 4 3 2 1 Boring

Your comments:



Appendix C: Teaching Plan

[INSTRUCTORS] Akira Nakayama, William Karl (ALT)

1. DATE November 10th, 1998 (3rd period)2. CLASS 3-2 Home Economics class (38 girls)3. Text progressive Oral Communication B4. Purpose of the lesson

a. To have the students concentrate on listening to English conversation.b. To help the students communicate effectively in English.

5. The aims for this lesson are:a. To have the students learn some basic English expressions from the children’s book.b. To have the students make a children’s book in easy English.c. The students should present their own children’s book in front of the class.d. To have the students evaluate each other.

6. Period allotted:5 (This being the 5th period, activity children’s book)

7. Expressions to be stressed“The title is “, “It’s a ...“, “There are...”, “This is between ... and ...“

8. MaterialsStudents’ textbook, students’ file, children book, and evaluation sheet

9. Teaching Procedure

Stage Activities Aims and Functions

A. Introduction 1. Greeting *To create an English speaking atmosphere, ALT says ‘Good(3minutes) Morning’ to the class.

*Both ALT and JET ask the students some questions.a. What did you do yesterday?b. What did you do last weekend?

2. Review *To check the students’ understanding of the previous lessons,both ALT and JET ask the students some questions about it.

(3minutes) a. Where are you from?b. When is your birthday?

B. Activity 1. Introduction *JET explains what we are going to do today and distributes(2minutes) the evaluation sheet to each student.2. Group Work *JET has the students make groups of 5 or 6.3. Presentation *JET picks one of the group to present their ‘children book’.(33minutes) *Before the students presenting the book, ALT asks the

following five questions.a. What is the title of your children book?b. How many pages are there in your book?c. Is it a true story or a fantasy story?d. Is it a story for boys, girls or both?e. How old are the children who you think willread your book?*The students will listen to the other group presentations.

4. Evaluation After listening to the presentation, the students willevaluate the group.

(5minutes) *Both ALT and JET ask some questions about the book.

C. Consolidation 1. Review *ALT asks the students some questions.(4minutes) a. Did you enjoy the class?

b. Do you understand what we did today?c. Did you have fun?


279On JALT2000—Towards the New Millenium On JALT2000—

IntroductionThis demonstration was designed to show how to use authentic Englishmaterials in the ESL classroom. These materials can be menus, maps,newspapers inserts, travel brochures, mail order catalogs, phone books,real estate pamphlets, and various pamphlets of sightseeing and touristinformation. A set of materials consisting of, for example, a map, a travelguide and a restaurant menu all from the same town could also be used.

A copy of the same authentic material is given to each student orgroup of students along with a handout of questions. The questions directthe students to important parts of the material.

ObjectivesThere are several reasons for using authentic materials in the classroom.Heightened interest and motivation are, of course, always welcome.Getting students to be aware of cultural differences in foods, tipping,prices, weights and measures can improve a student’s survival ability in aforeign country. Also important is developing the student’s ability to findrelevant information and to disregard what is not relevant. Usingauthentic materials develops the student’s ability to do this quickly and

more efficiently.

Collecting Useful MaterialsAlmost any authentic material can be

used. The easiest materials to obtainare those written in English about the

city or country where one works.These can be English

newspapers, magazines, menusand sightseeing guides.Traveling is another way tofind authentic materials.Airline schedules, in-flightmagazines, bus schedulesand tourist guides can easily

be picked up when travelingand mailed back to school.

Even friends, relatives andstudents traveling abroad can

be asked to pick up materials.Country, city, province and state

visitor bureaus are an excellentsource of information. Some places

will mail requested information. Manycountries have inexpensive rates for

sending printed materials overseas.The Internet is an excellent source of authentic

information. Try visiting web sites of supermarkets, airlinecompanies and restaurants.

When collecting materials make sure that they:

Charles Kelly

Bruce VorlandMark Offner

Larry Kelly

Aichi Institute of Technology

UsingAuthenticMaterials

to MotivateStudents


-are well organized, pleasing to look at and colorful-have numbered pages for easy reference-are hardy and easy to handle-are timely, but will not date themselves quickly-are appropriate for the English you want to teach-can be handed out to each student or group

The Question Handout

The question handout is very crucial to the effectiveness of the lesson and should be constructed carefully.First, the teacher must completely familiarize himself with the authentic material and make note of theparts that should be brought to the attention of the student. The questions should direct the student towardthis material. A well thought out question handout can make any authentic material work.

The students should be exposed to a variety of question types. A good way to start is with easymultiple choice or fill-in factual questions that give the student a ‘tour’ of the material. In the case of asupermarket sale advertisement the first questions could be:

1. This sale is from _______ to __________.2. How much is the frozen pizza?3. Which is the cheapest? a) Coca Cola b) Pepsi c) 7-Up

These easier questions can be used to bring attention to cultural differences (a dozen vs. ten to a carton).

4. How many large brown eggs can you buy for $1.00?

After the student has answered these questions he will be familiar with the material and will have gainedsome confidence. From this point more difficult questions that are analytical or multi-step can beincluded. The questions can be made to highlight differences in weights and measures and to forcestudents to make comparisons of metric and imperial systems. Keep in mind that students may be able tohandle more difficult questions when they work in pairs.

5. How much do ten ears of Florida sweet corn and two pounds (lb.) of fresh groundround cost?

6. How many grams of Florida red potatoes can you buy for $5.00? (One pound isabout 453 grams.)

Questions that involve personal choices are best left until the students are very familiar with thematerial. These may encourage lively discussion if done in pairs.

7. You are having a party for six friends at your house. You can spend up to 50dollars. What would you buy for the party?

1 Potato Chips 4 six oz. bags $ 6.00 2 $ 3 $ 4 $ 5 $

Total $

The last questions should be more challenging and time consuming. Because of the differences inabilities (and sometimes luck), the time it takes a student to complete a question handout can varyconsiderably. The more challenging questions at the end of the handout tend to work as “equalizers” and

Kelly et. al.: Using Authentic Material to Motivate Students


slow down the faster student so the slower student can catch up. Questions can involve reading the smallprint, be especially detailed, or involve deductive reasoning.

8. What can you buy in a glass jar that is usually sold in a plastic bottle in Japan?9. Would you shop at this store? Why or why not?

Procedure

1. The material is handed out to each student or group along with the single-pagehandout of questions.

2. The teacher gives a brief explanation of the materials pointing out, for example,the importance of the legend in a map or the table of contents in a pamphlet.Background information or personal anecdotes that might spark the students’interest can be added. Things that might be of special interest to the students,such as Japanese products or words, can be mentioned.

3. As the students look for answers, the teacher can encourage questions and commentsabout the material or topic by moving around the room and talking to the studentsindividually.

4. Once the allotted time is up, the teacher can give the correct answers for particularlydifficult questions before collecting the handouts. Experience has shown thatcollecting handouts, even when they will not be graded, keeps the studentsmore focused on the exercise.

Variations

Crossword puzzlesComputer software makes it easy for teachers to build crossword puzzles using information contained inauthentic materials. These can be used in place of or in addition to the question handout.

The internetThe Internet is a limitless source of authentic materials. The questions can be posted online and beclickable, taking the student straight to the appropriate URLs of the chosen site. The student can do theexercise either from the computer lab or from home. However, the questions may have to be updatedeach time the target sites are changed. Examples of online questions for two very extensive sites,CuisineNet and Internet Movie Database can be found at <http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/guides/>.

Conclusion

Authentic materials add a new dimension to English lessons. Student motivation and interest in Englishstudy is enhanced and students gain confidence and satisfaction knowing that they are able to read andunderstand materials written for a native speaker.

Kelly et. al.: Using Authentic Material to Motivate Students


In addition to publishing articles, research papers, lessons plans,classroom handouts and other materials for ESL teachers, the InternetTESL Journal <http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj> also has ongoing projects.This paper introduces those projects.

A Brief HistoryThe Internet TESL Journal <http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/> was startedin 1995 to provide a web-based journal for ESL teachers and students.With the help and support of teachers and students from around theworld, it has grown to be one of the most highly accessed ESL web sites.

Activities for ESL Students started in 1996 as part of The InternetTESL Journal to include quizzes and other activities for students writtenby many teachers from around the world.

Projects Designed for Teachers

Games and Activities for the English as a Second LanguageClassroom

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/c/games.html

This is a list of games, that teachershave found useful in the ESL classroom.

Since submissions are automaticallyadded, the page is continually

growing. The newest submissionis at the top of the list so thatrepeat visitors can see what isnew at a glance.

Conversation Questions forESL Students

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/questions/

This is a collection ofover 500 questions on 24 topics

that can be used forconversation practice. Among

the many topic categories, here is asampler: animals and pets, Christmas,

family, health, sports and socialproblems. Individuals are encouraged to add

their own questions so the database of usablequestions continues to grow. A page especially for teachers

that explains how to use these questions is also provided.

Larry KellyCharles Kelly

Aichi Institute of Technology

TheProjectsof the

Internet TESLJournal


Jokes for the ESL Classroom

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/c/jokes.html

Jokes that have worked well in the classroom have been submitted by both teachers and students.Teachers who use jokes in the ESL classroom to teach culture, grammar and vocabulary will find thesejokes funny and useful. Jokes submitted by visitors to the page are automatically added to the page.

TESL/TEFL/TESOL/ESL/EFL/ESOL Links

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/links/

This is a large collection of web links related to English learning and English teaching. It can bebrowsed by category or searched by using the search engine. In addition to the complete list of links,there is also a page of recommended links for ESL teachers who are new to the Internet. This is thecentral location where the Internet ESL community registers web pages. Links that are submitted onlineautomatically appear on the “What’s New” page. This allows ESL teachers to register new web pages andmakes it easy for others to find the newest pages on the web. After these new links are visited by TheInternet TESL Journal staff, they are added to the main searchable database.

Daily Page for ESL/EFL Teachers

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/daily/

This is a fast-loading web page (less than 5Kb) which has the most popular search engines and themost recently submitted ESL/EFL links. This page not only allows teachers to have an easy-to-usestartup page, it also helps teachers keep up with what’s new on the ESL/EFL Web.

Projects Designed for Students

Self-Study Quizzes for ESL Students

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/

Self study quizzes provide students with around 1,000 quizzes produced by ESL teachers. Thesubdivisions include new quizzes, holidays, reading, trivia, culture, sports, writing, grammar, idioms,phrasal verbs & slang, scrambled words, and vocabulary. An answer button under the question allowsstudents to instantly see the correct answer. Interested individuals can contribute to this collection ofquizzes. New quizzes are regularly being added.

Interactive JavaScript Quizzes for ESL Students

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/js/

This project takes advantage of the added features of JavaScript, thus making the quizzes moreinteractive than the self-study quizzes.

Some of the features of our JavaScript/HTML quiz templates are as follows:

Kelly et. al.: The Projects of the Internet TESL Journal


1. The score is calculated after each answer is given.2. Quiz items are generated in a randomized order so that no two quiz sessions are

alike.3. On the multiple-choice quizzes, the order that the choices appear is also randomly

chosen.4. Skipped or incorrectly answered items are recycled and appear again at the end of

the quiz.5. The quiz writer has the option to put in a “feedback” statement which appears

when a student makes a mistake.

Since interested individuals can contribute to this collection, new quizzes are added often andappear at the top of the list.

Foreign Language Vocabulary Quizzes

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/v/

These are multiple-choice quizzes with the question being a word in one language and the choicesbeing words from the other language. Those living in Japan will be most interested in the English-Japanese Vocabulary Quizzes < http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/v/j/>.

Some of the features of this quiz templates are as follows:

1. The quiz items appear in a randomly chosen order.2. Each time an item appears, the distracters (the wrong answers) are chosen randomly

from other words within the quiz data.3. Incorrectly answered items will appear again at the end of the quiz.4. Since quizzes are randomly generated, every time a quiz is taken it will be different

allowing students to do the same quiz multiple times.

Crossword Puzzles for ESL Students

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/cw/

This collection of over 50 crossword puzzles covers a variety of subjects related to languagelearning. The puzzles are identified by level (easy, medium or difficult) and contain between 7 to 26words. A hint button helps the student who has difficulty with a word and the answers can be viewed onany browser or checked automatically with a JavaScript-enabled browser. Since interested individuals cancontribute to this collection, new puzzles are continually being added.

ESL Student Guides to the Internet

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/guides/

This page not only introduces ESL students to selected pages designed for native-speakers, but italso assists them in understanding and using those pages. Vocabulary lists and activities are included.Teachers are encouraged to help write more of these pages.



Internet Treasure Hunts for ESL Students

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/th/

These scavenger hunts require students to visit various web sites to find information. Treasure huntsinclude touring Australia, American universities, the movie industry, George Washington, music, andabout the Internet and on-line newspapers. Individuals are encouraged to submit their own scavengerhunts.

Selected Links for ESL/EFL Students

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/ESL.html

Some of the more interesting sites for students of English as a Second Language are listed here.This is a good starter page for students and directs students to content-based sites on the web. Self-studyquizzes, games, puzzles, grammar, and writing are just a few of the topics covered. It is set up so an ESLstudent can easily navigate through the page.



Conversation Circles, one of the techniques used by CommunityLanguage Learning (CLL) practitioners, are an excellent tool forincreasing student involvement and investment in language classes. CLLis the application of the principles of Counseling Learning (CL), ageneral approach to learning developed by Charles A. Curran in the1970s, to language learning. Curran’s belief that learning must addressboth the cognitive and affective needs of the learner is the basis of CLL.This article will balance an introduction of the principles of CLL with ahow to description of conversation circles. It will also consider the role ofSAARD in creating an effective learning environment. SAARD, anacronym meaning Security, Aggression, Attention, Reflection/Retentionand Discrimination, is a useful framework for analyzing teaching andlearning based on the principles of CLL.

コミュニティ・ランゲージ・ラーニング(CLL)教授法の実践者が用いるテクニックの一つである"Conversation Circles"は、語学のクラスにおいて、学生参加を促し、やる気を起こさせるのに極めて有効なテクニックである。CLLは、1970年代にチャールズ・A・カランが開発した教育法である "Counseling Learning"(CL)理論を語学教育に応用したものであり、したがって、学習は、学習者の知覚と感覚両面の要求に応えなくてはならないというカランの信念が、CLL教授法の根底となっている。

　この小論は、CLL理論を紹介し、"Conversation Circles"実践を報告するものであるが、同時に、効果的な学習環境

創造のために"SAARD"(Security=安全, Aggres-sion=攻撃 Attention=注目, Reflection=熟考/

Retention=記憶, Discrimination=識別,を意味する頭字語) の果たす役割をも考察

している。"SAARD"は、CLL理論に基づく教育および学習の分析にあたっ

て、有効な視点であるといえる.

Let’s imagine that you areteaching an elective BasicEnglish Conversation class inwhich five beginning leveljunior college women areenrolled. The class meetstwice a week. You’ve been

struggling with attendanceproblems: Sometimes three or

four of the students show upbut more frequently there are

only one or two students inclass. Irregular attendance makes

moving forward in the textbookdifficult because someone is always

completely lost. You’re struggling, theone student who never misses class is

struggling, and you just don’t know what to do.The situation described above could be found in just about

any setting from a language school to a university level intensiveEnglish Program to a high school English club.

What if you changed the way you approach the course? What if thestudents were given more choice about what they’re learning? What if

Kim ParentTokyo Jogakkan Jr. College

RaisingStudent Investment:Using Conversation

Circles in SmallConversation

Classes


you made them responsible for generating the text for the class? What do you think would happen? WhenI started using conversation circles in the class described above, attendance improved until we had perfectattendance all the time and students became very excited about what they were learning. When askedwhat they thought about the new class, students said things like, I want to do it again because I have fun!I want to know new vocabulary more and more. and I think that conversation circle is [sic] very usefuland important because I learn new vocabulary and I can communicate with my classmates. Let’s look atwhat conversation circles are, what the principles behind them are and how you might use them toincrease learning and motivation in your small conversation classes.

Why does it work? The Principles Behind Conversation Circles

Conversation Circles are one of the techniques used by Community Language Learning (CLL)practitioners. CLL is a holistic approach to language teaching that is based on work done by Charles A.Curran in the early 1970s. Curran, a clinical psychologist applied his experience in psychologicalcounseling to the field of general education and called his approach to teaching Counseling Learning(CL). When the principles of CL were applied to the specific needs of language teaching and learning, theCommunity Language Learning approach was created. Curran used the acronym SAARD to describe theconditions needed for effective learning. The elements of SAARD: Security, Aggression, Attention,Reflection/Retention and Discrimination are briefly described below. They are then used to organize anintroduction of several of the principles of CLL. With these principles as a foundation, a learningenvironment can be created in which Conversation Circles can be used effectively in smaller conversationclasses (2-15 students) in just about any setting with learners from the false beginner level on up.

Security is used to describe an atmosphere in which students feel safe: They know what isexpected of them and they know they will be treated with respect and fairness

Principle: People learn best when they feel secure. Security can be improved by:

• approaching students with a non-judgemental attitude of trust and confidence.• creating an accepting, respectful atmosphere.• setting and honoring time limits.• explaining what will happen in each class.• having the teacher stand behind students when conducting the recording phase ofConversation Circles. “The superior knowledge and power of the teacher can bethreatening.” (Larsen-Freeman, 1986, p. 96) Having the teacher stand in back reducesthe threat and allows students to focus their full attention on the language they arelearning.• structuring activities clearly and appropriately.• giving students only as much language as they can handle.

Aggression as used in CLL, refers to student initiative.Principle: Students learn best when they have a choice about what they practice. They should have

an opportunity to assert themselves in class and should be given opportunities to take as much initiative asthey can handle. Students should have opportunities to generate the language they want to learn.

Attention refers to being mindful of the language, the process of learning and the task at hand. Tofacilitate attention, tasks are structured in a way that allows students to focus on one thing at a time.

Principle: Students are responsible for their own learning. Students with a strong sense of attentionwill enthusiastically engage in the learning process by listening carefully to each other, repeatingsentences to themselves when others are working with the teacher and bringing their minds back tolearning tasks when they wander.

Reflection/Retention. Reflection refers to the process of stopping and thinking about what and howyou are learning and sharing your thoughts with a partner or the teacher. Retention is the process ofintegrating new information into what you already know.

Principle: Reflecting on their experience helps students learn about their learning and

Parent: Raising Student Investment: Using Conversation Circles


about the language.

• Listening to recorded conversations allows students to relax and reflect on thelanguage they generated.• Feedback sessions should be a regular part of learning activities. During feedbacksessions, the teacher should paraphrase what students say to show she heard themand that she understood and is interested in what they said.

Principle: Student generated texts create high levels of student interest and greater potential forretention.

Discrimination refers to the student’s ability to distinguish similarities and differences in the targetlanguage in such areas as pronunciation, lexicon, and grammar.Principle: Students need to learn to discriminate between different forms of the language.

How Does it Work: Steps for Conducting a Conversation Circle?

Before you begin, explain and model the process. Doing this will increase students’ feeling of security asthey begin an unfamiliar activity.

Ask students to sit in a closed circle while you stand outside the circle. This arrangement will createa feeling of security. Put a tape recorder in the center of the circle within easy reach of all of the students.

The first time you try this with a group of students, you may want to go around the circle once andhave each student record herself saying, “Hi, my name is ____.” This will familiarize them with the useof the tape recorder and help alleviate some of the fear they have about taping themselves thus enhancingsecurity. Take the time to listen to the tape once or twice and check in with students about how they arefeeling about the process.

Tell the students you ready to begin. Invite them to raise their hand or take the tape recorder whenthey wish to speak. Step back and wait. When one of the students takes the recorder indicating that shewants to speak go stand behind her.

The student says whatever she would like in either her first language (if the teacher speaks thatlanguage) or in English.

Clarify what the student has said if you have any doubts about her meaning, and restate it in agrammatically correct, culturally appropriate manner. (For example: If the students says, My love boydivorce with me weekend, you might say, I broke up with my boyfriend this weekend.)

The student repeats the corrected sentence until she feels confident abut saying it. When she isready, she records the sentence. If the sentence is to long for the student to comfortably record all at once,break it into chunks for her, giving her just what she can handle in each chunk to help her feel secureabout the task.

When the first student has successfully recorded her sentence, wait patiently until someone elsevolunteers to assert herself by joining the conversation. Remember that your non-judgemental attitude oftrust and respect will help foster security which will, in turn, enable students to assert themselves. At first,taping tends to be a slow process with a lot of silent time as students gather their courage, but withpractice and an increased sense of security, students will soon begin to jump right in.

The same procedure is followed with each student who wishes to participate. (Note: Students arenot required to participate in this phase of the process. To this end, questions are not directed at anyparticular student because to do so could threaten her sense of security and put her in a position of havingto participate before she is ready. To further increase security, set clear time limits by stating how long thegroup will have to record the conversation.)

When you have reached your time limit, stop. Students will be eager to hear their tape but takesome time at this point in the procedure to join them in the circle and get their feedback about the process.The teacher’s role during this session is to paraphrase students’ comments to let them know you arelistening and that you understand what they are saying. Remember to limit your responses to showingyour interest in the students’ experience. It is easy to think that this phase of the process isn’t important or



that students can’t or won’t do it. However, the reflection phase is very important. Feedback sessions havea significant impact on behavior and attitudinal changes (Stevick, 1980). They are very effective inestablishing a supportive, accepting atmosphere.

Having reflected on the process, it is now time to reflect on the language. Listen to the tape 2-3times with students. They shouldn’t write or talk in this phase so they can direct all of their attentiontowards listening to their conversation.

From this point on, there are many ways to proceed. I will describe the process as it can be seen inmy class.

If we are running short of time, I may choose to stop the class at this point. I can then transcribe theconversation and determine my next steps in preparation for the next class. If time allows, I play the tapeagain, stopping after each sentence to write the conversation on an overhead or on a large sheet ofnewsprint paper that is taped to the blackboard. Students do not usually write during this phase so theycan direct their full attention to the words I am writing.

When the conversation has been written down, we listen to it one more time while following alongwith the written text. I then invite them to reflect on the conversation with a partner and encourage themto discuss any parts of the conversation that they don’t understand.

Before the end of class we have one more check in to see how they are feeling about the processand the language they have generated. I don’t answer their questions; I simply paraphrase to let themknow I understand and am interested. After the first few times, they realize that answers are forthcomingand that this is a time to let me know what their questions are.

Now you have a student generated text from which you can select grammatical elements andvocabulary to practice in subsequent classes. This text may be used in all of the ways you are currentlyusing the conversations found in a commercial textbook. Many of the same exercises, activities or gamesthat you are currently using to practice grammar and vocabulary may also be used. When I worked withthe text in Appendix 1, I focused on the use of copula be with going to to talk about future activities andagreeing and disagreeing with statements about likes and dislikes using “I do too.” and “I don’t either.”We spent parts of two different classes practising these grammatical elements before recording a newconversation. (By the way, students will often use the grammatical elements you have practiced insubsequent conversations which allows for a very natural recycling/review process.)

It is possible to focus the texts generated in conversation circles. I often leave the topic to thestudents’ discretion but on occasion find it helpful to give them a prompt or provide some other structureto the activity. If you are using a textbook in your class but are interested in experimenting withconversation circles, it is possible to focus the conversation on the topic of a new chapter as a way ofintroducing the chapter. If you are about to study holidays with relative clauses of time as the targetedgrammar, you could ask students to think about how they would complete the sentence, “New Years is atime when ...” as a starting point for a conversation circle. Another option is to use the conversation circleto review at the end of a unit. This option is a great way to boost students’ confidence and feeling ofsecurity as they may not need to rely on the you to ‘correct’ their contributions very much.

At the surface level, CLL and conversation circles look very simple. At the technique level, they arequite easy. What makes them work are the underlying principles of SAARD. If you can begin to put theprinciples described in this article into practice by helping students feel secure, giving them anopportunity to assert themselves and what they know, structuring activities in a way that allows studentsto be attentive to one thing at a time, providing opportunities to reflect and encouraging them to developtheir ability to discriminate between different forms of the language, you will be amazed at the results. Inthe class described at the beginning of this article, motivation increased, attendance was never a problem,students retained more of what they learned and all of us looked forward to class each day. I wouldcaution against approching conversation circles as merely a technique. Teachers will want to preparethemselves and their classes to maximize the principles. Without the principles described here, securityand reflection in particular, conversation circles don’t have much of a chance of succeeding. Students whodon’t feel safe won’t participate. Teachers that don’t allow time for feedback and reflection will have



missed a valuable opportunity to increase learning and to further enhance the feeling of safety and respectin the learning environment.

References

Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. New York, New York:Cambridge University Press.

Stevick, E. W. (1980). Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways. Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle.

Appendix

October 26th Conversation - Just before the Halloween Party

Are you going to dress up for the party?I might wear a mask. How about you?

I might wear a mask too.What kind of mask are you going to wear.

I’m not going to wear a mask because I’m going to wear a viking costume.Can I change the topic? What are you going to do at the school festival?

My class is going to sell Japanese style pizza.I’m in the same class.

I am going to make tapioca.My class’s Japanese style pizza is more delicious than your class’s tapioca.

No it isn’t! My class’s Japanese style pizza is the most delicious.I disagree! My class’s tapioca is #1.

My class is going to make tapioca but I don’t like it.I don’t either.



ディスカッション能力は、アイコンタクト、ジェスチャ、t u r n -taking、的確な話題の進行などの行動に支えられている。ディスカッション能力のもう一つの重要な側面は、学生がトピック分野の知識を獲得することにある。新聞記事のトピックは時事的出来事を含み、学生は“w h o ,what, when, where, why, how”などの鍵となる情報を用いて質問を展開し、さらにそれらの質問に対して自ら答えをだし、記事の内容を他の学生に伝えることを通して、記事の内容を分析できる。次に、学生は“背景、観点、矛盾、シンボル、クライマックス、皮肉、主題”などのstory gram-m a r を通して短いストーリーを考察する。最終的には話を読んだり、ビデオを見たりした後、学生はdiscussion-in-roleに参加することができる。学生はそれぞれ、ディスカッションにおける役割、大局的見方、協力の仕方などを状況に応じて決定するのである。

Learning how to participate in a small group discussion is an importantgoal in many English language programs. This is particularly true ofstudents preparing for academic environments (Ostler, 1980; Johns,1981). Recent studies suggest that with as little as 8 hours of task-basedinstruction, students can achieve significant gains in the discussionabilities of making eye contact, using gestures, taking turns, andgenerating appropriate content (Robinson, Strong, Whittle & Nobe, 2001;

Robinson, Strong, & Whittle, 2000). As described inthis research, students can learn these abilities

through viewing videotaped examples ofstudent discussions, and taping,

reviewing, transcribing, and evaluatingtheir own practice.

In addition to instruction indiscussion abilities, teachers need

to provide discussionopportunities throughclassroom activities. Over thelast eight years, we have beendeveloping these activities inthe Integrated EnglishProgram for freshman andsophmore students in the

English Department atAoyama Gakuin University.

There are about 850intermediate-level students in

our two-year program, streamedinto three levels of ability and

placed in classes of about 25students where we have introduced

discussion activities through reading andsummary writing.First, we teach the students two simple

reading schemas. Then we initiate weekly small groupdiscussions with students in charge of directing the activity. This articledescribes our reading schemas for summarizing a newspaper article, andanalysing a short story.

Gregory StrongAoyama Gakuin University

Readingand

Writing forDiscussion

Groups


Summarizing a Newspaper Article

News stories can provide high-interest reading materials at varied levels of ability. As distinct from thegenres of an editorial, feature, interview, or columnist, the “straight” or factual newspaper article offerstopicality, and a controlled level of reading difficulty. The news articles may be drawn from Englishlanguage newspaper or online sources such as The Daily Yomiuri (www.yomiuri.co.jp), and The JapanTimes. At lower ranges of ability, teachers may use captioned English photographs.

Factual news articles are written in an inverted pyramid structure. The important facts aresummarized in the first sentence or lead. The lead is a single paragraph in length. In descending order ofimportance, the next few paragraphs supply further details. Accordingly, students should be taught toconcentrate on the lead, and the first sections of the news article.

The initial period of instruction usually takes a single class period. For students at an intermediatelevel of ability, it is no more difficult than learning to scan for details or to skim a reading passage for themain idea. Because the students are working in small groups, they help each other with problems oflanguage and comprehension.

The teacher begins with instructing the class in how to use interrogative forms to determine themain facts. Students try to develop five or six questions about any news event: (a) where did it takeplace?, (b) when did it happen?, (c) who was involved?, (d) what happened?, (e) why did it happen?,(f) how did it happen?

An easy way to assist students in remembering the questions is for the teacher to refer to theinterrogative forms as the 5W and 1H.

The teacher reviews the interrogative forms, and through the use of an authentic newspaper articleor a printout from an online source, he or she demonstrates how to generate questions, find the answers,and take notes. In groups, the students write a summary. The teacher compares these on the board orohp. Individually, students write their opinions about the issues raised by the article and pose severalgeneral questions that form the basis for an in-class discussion of about 15 to 20 minutes. For example,students who read a recent article about the first Japanese surrogate mother that appeared in The JapanTimes Online (May 20, 2001) might pose questions such as: (a) do you want a child?, (b) would you everbecome a surrogate mother or try to find one?, (c) do you think surrogate motherhood should be bannedin Japan as has been in Europe? The teacher supplies examples of additional discussion questions.

After this class demonstration, discussions become an ongoing part of the class. Two or three timesover the semester, each student serves as a discussion leader, prepares a newspaper article, and leads adiscussion, according to the following plan:

For homework, the discussion leader chooses a newspaper article.1. He or she takes notes on the article by using the interrogative forms.2. The student develops questions, then answer them. These notes form the basis of a summary,a statement of opinion, and three general questions.3. The discussion leader attaches a photocopy or printout of the newspaper article, notes, writtensummary, evaluation, and questions and brings these to class.4. He or she retells the newspaper article, explains his or her opinion, and questions the othermembers of the small group.

The teacher assesses the student discussions, and collects the student work and news article copiesfor marking.

Because students choose their newspaper articles, they naturally will gravitate toward the topics andissues that interest them most. They usually will choose material of appropriate difficulty as well.However, the teacher still needs to mark their work in order to set a standard for the activity and toencourage students to continue making a good effort in analyzing their articles. Their writtenpreparations help them to acquire the appropriate vocabulary and content needed to discuss their

Strong: Reading and Writing for Discussion Groups


newspaper articles. Over the semester, we find that students’ summaries gradually improve as does theirconfidence in leading a small group discussion.

Analyzing Short Stories

The second type of reading schema we use is a story grammar. As enumerated by Marshall (1983), storygrammar is a reading schema generally consisting of theme, plot, setting, events, character, a problem,and a goal. In reviewing the research studies on story grammars in L1, Dimino, Taylor and Gersten(1995) noted their effectiveness in improving student comprehension. They suggested that most storygrammars are derived from cognitive psychology and anthropological studies of motifs in folk tales.Nevertheless, one of the best known story grammars is Labov’s Linguistic Model for Narrative Structure(1972). Its features include an initial abstract or summary of the story, an orientation or setting,complicating action and a resolution and coda. However, this model is based on studies of oral narrativesand it includes travelogues, jokes, and puns. We tried to develop a story grammar from some of the mostcommonly employed literary terms (Beckson & Ganz, 1987). Although we expect the teachers in ourprogram to understand the terms completely and to provide the students with extensive examples in class,we greatly simplified the definition of each term. Like the simple 5W and 1H heuristic for discussingnew articles, our aim was to provide students with a rudimentary analytical tool that they could apply to avariety of situations and employ in class as a learner-centred activity. Our story grammar is largelydescriptive yet it enabled our students to begin to interpret literature for themselves instead of relyingupon their teachers.

The literary terms include (a) setting, (b) point of view, (c) conflict, (d) symbol, (e) climax, (f)irony, (g) theme (See Appendix for definitions). The terms are general enough to be applied to all shortfiction yet provide students with a common language for discussion. Of course, definitions of theseliterary terms need to be pre-taught to students. Then practice in analysis is taught through teachermodelling and by peer coaching in class. The instructional sequence of the introductory class is asfollows:1. The students are taught the literary terms.2. In class, they are given a very short story with simple vocabulary to read and analyse using theterms (See Appendix).3. Each student compares his or her answers with a partner, then with a small group. Each groupwrites up their explanation for the use of the literary terms in the piece of fiction examined inclass. The teacher compares these on the board or OHP.

In subsequent classes, the teacher may assign the same readings to an entire class of students or askeach student to choose a graded reader or a novel from the school library. If all the students are doing thesame story, then all the students in a group contribute about the same amount to the discussion. However,if each student is presenting a different reader, then the discussion is more of a retelling of story,resembling the previous type of discussion where students describe news items to one another and posegeneral questions. In either case, each student is responsible for leading a discussion several times over asemester. As part of the student’s preparation for the discussion, he or she must read the story, learnunfamiliar vocabulary, and write a two or three sentence explanation of how each term is used in thestory. The teacher assesses the student discussions in class, collects the student’ written analyses andmarks them. Gadjusek (1988) outlined a similar process of pre-reading, in-class analysis throughdiscussion, and post-class activities for college ESL students.

Our story grammar of literary terms can provide the focus for ongoing small group discussions of ashort stories or a novel being read by the entire class. As with the discussion based upon a newspaperarticle, students in small groups discuss language meanings and difficulties they may have in storycomprehension as well as the application of the literary terms to their stories. It is a very effectivealternative to lecturing to students, the use of teacher-generated comprehension questions, or a reliance onthe questions provided in a textbook.

Our story grammar may also form the basis for oral book reports on fiction materials that students



choose themselves. As with newspaper discussions, a teacher response to the students’ notes and to theiroral participation in class is an important part of the activity.

Conclusion

The use of small group discussions in language classes prepares students to participate in academicdiscussions. It also offers them a chance to participate in more meaningful communication than the drillpatterns often found in English language course books.

By choosing newspaper articles and fiction of interest to themselves, students may be empowered ina classroom. The material is rich in new vocabulary and varied grammatical structures, some of whichstudents will acquire through preparing the article or story for class. Each student has the chance tobecome the classroom expert on a topic or story, regardless of his or her language abilities.

References

Beckson, K., Ganz, A. (1987). Literary terms: A dictionary. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.

Dimino, J., Taylor, R., Gersten, R. (1995). Synthesis of the research on story grammar as a means toincrease comprehension. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 11, 1, 53-72. First surrogate mom gives birth.The Japan Times Online. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010520a3.htm (20,May, 2001).

Gadjusek, L. (1988). Toward a wider use of literature in esl: Why and how. TESOL Quarterly, 22, 2, 227-257.

Johns, A.M. (1981). Necessary English: A faculty survey. TESOL Quarterly, 15, 51-57.

Labov, W. (1972). Language in the inner city. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Marshall, N. (1983). The Reading Teacher, March, 616-620.

Ostler, S. E. (1980). A survey of academic needs for advanced ESL. TESOL Quarterly, 14, 489-502.

Robinson, P., Strong, G., Whittle, J. & Nobe, S. (2001). Development of EAP discussion ability. In J.Flowerdew & M. Peacock (Eds.), Research perspectives on EAP. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Robinson, P., Strong, G., & Whittle, J. (2000, March). Comparing tasks and skills in developing discus-sions. Paper presented at the meeting of the Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages,Vancouver, Canada.



Appendix

Literary Terms

1. Setting: the time and location of a story, or novel

2. Point of view: a story is told from one point of view:(a) first person; sympathetic, unreliable,(b) third person; factual, little insight into characters' minds and emotions,(c) omniscient, insight into the minds and emotions of many characters

3. Conflict: a character is in conflict with himself, orherself, or with someone else:(a) man or woman versus man or woman(b) man or woman versus himself or herself(c) man or woman versus his or her environment

4. Climax: the point in a conflict when one side or theother wins the struggle

5. Symbol: an object which stands for something else:ie. a cross for Christianity, sacrifice, death)ie. a wedding ring for marriage, partnership, fidelity)

6. Irony: an event turns out to be the reverse of what was expected

7. Theme: the main idea, a moral or a lesson

One Look

Walking down First Avenue, she hardly noticed the warmth of the summer night, or the smell of theflowers from the nearby park. Lonely, miserable, she felt like leaping from the Burrard Street bridge. Itstood a few blocks away, an ugly grey.

Ahead, a handsome young man jogged toward her, looking straight into her eyes. Their eyes met ashe passed.

BANG--she turned her head. The young man had run into a telephone pole.She laughed.


Documents

The Japan Association for Language Teaching On JALT2000 · On JALT2000—Towards the New Millenium 1 On JALT2000— 新千年紀にむかって The Japan Association for Language